Second author accuses viral baker of plagiarising

Perth Now

30-04-2025

A second author has accused Brooke Bellamy of stealing recipes for use in her bestselling cookbook Bake With Brooki.
Hours after RecipeTin Eats' Nagi Maehashi raised allegations of copyright infringement on Tuesday night, Sally McKenney, author and blogger behind Sally's Baking Addiction, levelled the claims.
Ms Bellamy, who owns the popular Brooki Bakehouse in Brisbane, denied the accusations, saying she had been making and selling her recipes before Ms Maehashi's were published.
The allegations relate to Ms Maehashi's caramel slice and baklava recipe, along with Ms McKenney's Best Vanilla Cake recipe.
Ms McKenney posted on social media, saying she was first alerted to the similarity months ago.
She said her recipe was first published in 2019.
'One of my recipes was also plagiarised in this book and also appears on the author's YouTube channel,' she said.
'Original recipe creators who put in the word to develop and test recipes deserve credit-especially in a best selling cookbook.'
Bake With Brooki is a bestselling cookbook published by Penguin in October last year and retails for $49.99.
Ms Bellamy quickly became a global sensation after sharing 'day in the life' videos on TikTok, which receive millions of views each day.
She is best known for her cookies and has opened pop-up stores in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Both Penguin and Ms Bellamy deny the allegations.
'I did not plagiarise any recipes in my book which consists of 100 recipes I have created over many years,' she said.
'In 2016, I opened my first bakery. I have been creating my recipes and selling them commercially since October 2016.'
Ms Bellamy posted an image showing her caramel slice, which dated back to December 2016.
'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,' she said.
The Brisbane baker said she 'immediately offered' to remove both recipes from future reprints to prevent further aggravation'.
In Ms Maehashi's Instagram post, she described Ms Bellamy of 'profiting' from the alleged plagiarised recipes.
The author claims she first raised concerns with Penguin in December.
'I put a huge amount of effort into my recipes. And I share them on my website for anyone to use for free,' she said.
'To see them plagiarised (in my view) and used in a book for profit, without credit, doesn't just feel unfair. It feels like a blatant exploitation of my work.'
Ms Maehashi is the founder of popular website, RecipeTin, which has 1.5 million followers on Instagram.
She is also the author of award-winning cookbooks Dinner and Tonight.