The Australian food world was just hit with a massive scandal after Nagi Maehashi, the powerhouse behind RecipeTin Eats, publicly accused TikTok star Brooke Bellamy (aka owner of Brooki) and Penguin Random House of copying her recipes for the hit cookbook Bake with Brooki.
Here’s how it all unfolded, with the allegations and quotes straight from Maehashi’s own statement.
Who are RecipeTin Eats and Brooki?
Nagi Maehashi, known as RecipeTin Eats, is one of Australia’s most trusted food bloggers. Her recipes are famous for being “everyday quick and easy food which is a step above the average”. She’s built a massive online following, with millions of fans who love her approachable style.
Brooke Bellamy, meanwhile, is the face behind Brooki Bakehouse in Brisbane and the social media handle “Bake with Brooki”. She’s racked up nearly 4 million followers with her viral baking videos and opened her bakery in 2022. Her debut cookbook, published by Penguin Random House in October 2024, quickly became a bestseller.
Today, Maehashi took to Instagram to share her article accusing Bellamy of plagiarising her recipes for her bestseller.
What are the allegations against Brooki?
It all kicked off when Maehashi received an email from a reader in November 2024, claiming they noticed “remarkable similarities” between her Caramel Slice recipe and the one in Bake with Brooki. The reader wrote, “Even to my novice eye, I noticed that her recipe seemed to replicate Nagi’s almost exactly albeit a few changes in wording.”
Maehashi says she was “shocked” to see what she says looks like her recipe “printed in a book launched with a huge publicity campaign from one of Australia’s biggest publishers,” noting that it has “sold over $4.6 million worth of sales in under six months (92,849 copies sold as of 23 April 2025, according to Nielsen BookScan, RRP $49.99).”
Maehashi didn’t hold back in her claiming: “This is a story about a multi-million dollar cookbook by a social media influencer, published by a blue-chip publisher, featuring numerous recipes that, in my opinion, are plagiarised, given the detailed and extensive word-for-word similarities to mine and those of other authors.”
She also explained, “To me, the similarities between the recipes in question are far too specific and detailed to be dismissed as coincidence.”
She went on to post recipes of hers and Bellamy’s side by side, including for a caramel slice and baklava.
“While recipes can resemble one another, because there are only so many ways some recipes can be made, the precision and detail in the similarities in this case are, in my opinion, far too strong to be a co-incidence,” she wrote.
Maehashi also claims that other authors have been plagiarised by Bellamy in her book. “One particular recipe by a very well known, beloved cookbook author bears similarities so detailed, extensive, and specific that, in my view, dismissing it as a coincidence would be absurd. Due to legal constraints, and out of respect for and at the request of the publisher, I am unable to share further details at this time,” she wrote.
She went on to say that out of respect to authors she is in contact with you may have also allegedly been plagiarised, she won’t name names.
Maehashi said she contacted Penguin Random House straight away, but instead of a conversation, she received “letters in stern, aggressive tones packed with pages of legal jargon that I struggled to make sense of”.
She hired her own lawyers and, over the following months, more allegedly copied recipes came to light, including her Baklava recipe and others from different authors.
She added, “To see them plagiarised (in my view) and used in a book for profit, without permission, and without credit, doesn’t just feel unfair. It feels like a blatant exploitation of my work.”
Pedestrian.TV does not suggest the allegations of plagiarism or copyright infringement are true, only that they have been made.
Have Penguin and Brooki responded to RecipeTin Eats?
Penguin Random House has denied the claims. According to Maehashi, their lawyers wrote,
“Our client respectfully rejects your clients’ allegations and confirms that the recipes in the BWB Book were written by Brooke Bellamy.”
Maehashi says she also wrote directly to Bellamy but received no reply. As of now, Bellamy hasn’t commented publicly on the allegations.
Fans of RecipeTin Eats have taken to Brooki’s Instagram in response to the allegations, with comments like, “How dare you plagiarise @recipe_tin disgusting,” and “Apologise to @recipe_tin!!!!!”
Bellamy has since turned off comments on her latest post, though comments remain open on most of her other posts.
What happens next?
Maehashi says she asked Penguin to withdraw the book, credit or remove her recipes from future editions, and make a charity donation instead of financial compensation. She notes that a new edition of the book has been released with a different Caramel Slice recipe, but other allegedly copied recipes remain unchanged.
Despite the legal wrangling, Maehashi says her main feeling is disappointment.
“If there’s one word that summarises how I feel about this whole situation, it’s not anger or resentment or bitterness. It’s disappointment,” she wrote.
“Brooke Bellamy – It didn’t have to be like this. If you had asked for permission, I would have given it and, knowing me, proudly promoted your book on launch. It costs nothing to credit.”
Maehashi’s decision to go public wasn’t made lightly:
“I’ve spent many sleepless nights fretting over it, and many hours writing it. The easiest and safest path would be to stay silent. I know there’s risk that legal action may be brought against me for speaking out, and it’s daunting to take on a major publisher and an influencer with a huge TikTok following. But I’m going ahead because, in my heart, I know it’s the right thing to do.”
For now, the cookbook is still on shelves, and the conversation about originality and credit in the food world is only heating up.
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