Brooke is an inspiring TikTok influencer and entrepreneur who operates three successful Brooki Bakehouse locations in Queensland. Most recently, she has come under attack for plagiarism by other food writers. The controversy surrounds her recently published cookbook, “Bake with Brooki,” which has garnered significant attention and even a shortlist nomination for the Australian Book Industry Awards this year.
Bellamy, who has two million followers on TikTok, launched her Brooki Bakehouse locations in 2022. Her ascendance has been meteoric, using her social media savvy to bring in a massive young audience. Her success has come under fire. Other food creators have alleged that her recipes are derivative.
Sally McKenney, creator of popular food blog Bewitching Kitchen, found herself in a similar situation, when Bellamy stole her signature vanilla cake recipe. McKenney expressed her frustration, stating, “Original recipe creators who put in the work to develop and test recipes deserve credit – especially in a best-selling cookbook.” She described the illegal upload as “a full brazen exploitation” of her work. She thought it was really wrong for her recipes to be used commercially without permission or credit.
Yet another food blogger, Nagi Maehashi, sounded the alarm on how similar Bellamy’s recipes were to hers. Maehashi asserted that Bellamy’s self-published cookbook displays “word-for-word similarities” to her caramel slice and baklava recipes. Maehashi’s website, RecipeTin Eats, has a huge audience of about 45 million page views per month.
In defense against these charges, Bellamy has vigorously denied the accusations of plagiarism. She asserted that “100 recipes I have created over many years” are featured in her cookbook. Bellamy emphasized the nature of recipe development today, stating, “Recipe development in today’s world is enveloped in inspiration from other cooks, cookbook authors, food bloggers and content creators.”
Bellamy took to Medium to answer the criticisms from his brother authors. She offered to pull the offensive recipes from future editions of her book to stop causing future harm. Her publisher, Penguin Random House Australia, lent support to her cause by refusing the allegations. They affirmed in a statement to Maehashi that “the recipes in the BWB Book were written by Brooke Bellamy.”
As the culinary world watches the situation develop, it has greater implications for originality and inspiration within the culinary world at large. The tension between working off tried and true templates vs. being creative is still a challenging line for many creators to walk.
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