Brooki Bakehouse founder makes huge admission after she was accused of copying rival behind RecipeTin Eats

Daily Mail​

24-05-2025

A popular baking influencer who was twice accused of plagiarising recipes in her best-selling cookbook has admitted not all recipes in the book were of her own invention - but also shared a pointed message to critics.
In a video posted to social media on Saturday, Brooki Bakehouse founder Brooke Bellamy announced she had returned to work weeks after being mired in back-to-back plagiarism scandals relating to her best-selling cookbook, Bake With Brooki.
'Since opening my bakery three years ago and sharing my life online, I've never had such a long break between videos,' Bellamy said in the video.
'But I've also never experienced something like I have over the last few weeks.'
RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi sparked an internet frenzy in April when she went public on her world famous blog with claims her caramel slice and Baklava recipes had been stolen for use in the book.
The video posted on Saturday showed Bellamy as she returned to her Fortitude Valley bakery in Brisbane 's inner-city before dawn and slipped on her iconic pink 'Brooki' apron.
The high-profile baker admitted that while each of the 100 recipes in the book were 'personal' to her, they each drew on existing recipes in some way for inspiration.
'While all of these recipes are personal to me, I cannot say that I have invented the cookies, cupcakes, brownies or cakes in the recipe book. They are all inspired from somewhere and someone before me,' she said.
RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi (pictured) sparked a firestorm when she claimed Bellamy copied two of her recipes
Bellamy said she had been influenced by creators across the world but said her mother remained her main inspiration.
'I have been so inspired by bakeries and bakers the world over but the biggest inspiration in my life is my mum because I learnt to cook and bake with her in the kitchen growing up,' she said.
'When I was invited to write a cookbook I was really excited to share all of the recipes that I've been making since I was small.'
On Saturday, Ms Bellamy lamented having been mired drawn into the dispute which, she claimed, stoked unwanted division between female bakers.
'I never subscribed to be a part of a narrative that pits two women against each other especially in the same industry. I think there's room for everyone, especially more women in business.'
Penguin Australia and Bellamy have denied the allegations since Bellamy first tackled Maehashi's claims head-on on April 29.
Bake With Brooki was published by Penguin in October last year and retails for $49.99.
'I did not plagiarise any recipes in my book, which consists of 100 recipes I have created over many years, since falling in love with baking as a child and growing up baking with my mum in our home,' she wrote.
'On March 2020, RecipeTin Eats published a recipe for caramel slice. It uses the same ingredients as my recipe, which I have been making and selling since four years prior.'
The following day, on April 30, Bellamy again denied copying the recipes but suggested all baker's share common methods.
'I do not copy other people's recipes. Like many bakers, I draw inspiration from the classics, but the creations you see at Brooki Bakehouse reflect my own experience, taste, and passion for baking, born of countless hours of my childhood spent in my home kitchen with Mum,' she said.
'While baking has leeway for creativity, much of it is a precise science and is necessarily formulaic.
'Many recipes are bound to share common steps and measures: if they don't, they simply don't work.'
Maehashi is not the only baker to have levelled plagiarism claims against Bellamy.
Hours after Maehashi went public with her claims, American baker and author Sally McKenny claimed her own vanilla cake recipe had also been stolen for use in the cookbook as well as on Bellamy's YouTube channel.
'Original recipe creators who put in the work to develop and test recipes deserve credit - especially in a best-selling cookbook,' McKenny wrote.
The Sally's Baking Addiction blogger said Maehashi had first alerted her to the alleged plagiarism.
Despite rejecting the allegations, Bellamy promptly offered to remove the three recipes from future editions of the book.
Matters went from bad to worse for Bellamy earlier this month when she was stripped of her ambassadorship for the Academy for Enterprising Girls; a government program designed to support female entrepreneurs.
Days later, she was snubbed of the Illustrated Book of the Year award at the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards in Melbourne which instead went to Maehashi.
Amid the public backlash against the Brisbane baker, Maehashi took to social media to insist people stop issuing 'personal attacks' against Bellamy.
'Please stop the trolling', she said in a video posted to Instagram on May 2.
'Now, I know I've made serious allegations, but this does not justify the personal attacks that I've seen online against Brooke Bellamy. I do not support it, and I'm asking you to stop.'
Maehashi reminded her followers her legal claim against Bellamy's publisher Penguin Australia was a 'business dispute' and ought not to be treated as a personal grievance.
'These are legal allegations that I have made against Penguin, a corporate, allegations made by my company,' she said.
'So, we've got to be respectful about this. You know, it's the RecipeTin way.'