Cookbook author Nagi Maehashi has raised serious allegations against TikTok influencer Brooke Bellamy, claiming that several recipes in Bellamy's popular cookbook "Bake with Brooki" bear "word-for-word similarities" to those she has published on her website, RecipeTin Eats. The accusations come as food creators grapple with the balance between inspiration and plagiarism in a digital landscape overflowing with culinary content.
Maehashi, whose culinary platform attracts an impressive 45 million page views monthly, insists that a reader highlighted striking parallels between her caramel slice recipe and that in Bellamy’s book, further alleging that Bellamy's version of baklava mimics hers as well. Despite the controversy surrounding her recipes, Bellamy maintains the integrity of her work and insists they originated from her own creative process, with some recipes evolving over many years.
In a twist of events, U.S. author Sally McKenney of "Sally’s Baking Addiction" also claimed that Bellamy reproduced her vanilla cake recipe in the same cookbook. Bellamy's commercial success has turned heads, as "Bake with Brooki" reportedly grossed about A$4.6 million in sales since its October 2024 debut.
The accusations have led Maehashi to contact both Bellamy and her publisher, Penguin Random House Australia. Maehashi expressed her feelings of "blatant exploitation" regarding her work and noted that she felt the response from the publisher felt like legal intimidation. However, Penguin and Bellamy have asserted their stance of innocence, with Penguin reaffirming that the recipes were indeed created by Bellamy.
In a bid to ease tensions, Bellamy stated she would consider removing the controversial recipes from future editions of her book and emphasized her admiration for Maehashi. The debate over recipe originality has ignited discussions in the culinary community about the importance of crediting sources and the collaborative nature of recipe development, particularly in an era where inspiration flows freely among cooks and creators.
As both Maehashi and Bellamy's works vie for recognition in the Australian Book Industry Awards, the fallout from this controversy illuminates the complex relationship between inspiration, imitation, and the quest for creative acknowledgment in the food industry.
