Nagi Maehashi, Brooke Bellamy in running for Illustrated Book of the Year award

Cookie queen Brooke Bellamy and RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi could cross paths on Wednesday night as they go head-to-head for an award in Melbourne.

Brisbane cookie queen Brooke Bellamy and RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi could cross paths on Wednesday night as they go head-to-head for an award at the Australian Book Industry Awards in Melbourne.

Both are short-listed in the Illustrated Book of the Year category.

Both were embroiled in controversy late last month when Bellamy was accused of plagiarism by Maehashi, who alleged recipes created by her for a caramel slice and baklava had been plagiarised.

Maehashi said she had been alerted to “striking similarities” in the two recipes last November.

Nagi Maehashi with her dog Dozer, who appears regularly on her social media feeds.

“I asked Penguin to withdraw the book containing the (allegedly) plagiarised recipes from sale, either attribute or remove my recipes from future reprints of the book, and to make a substantial donation to a charity in lieu of financial compensation,’’ she wrote at the time.

Bellamy has denied the claims, saying recipes in her book had been created “over many years while growing up”.

In a further statement, Bellamy said the incident had been “extremely overwhelming”.

“I have had media outside my home and business, and have been attacked online. It has been deeply distressing for my colleagues and my young family.

“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.”

As the social media stoush escalated, Maehashi urged online trolls to stop attacking Bellamy.

“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,” she said in a video on Instagram.

Brooke Bellamy, at her home in Brisbane, asked for privacy as the controversy unfolded.

Maehashi shares her recipes for free on RecipeTin Eats, with more than 150 recipes written in her cookbook titled Tonight, published on October 15, 2024. Bellamy released her own cookbook, titled Bake with Brooki, about two weeks later.

Maehashi and Bellamy have remained tight-lipped over whether they will make an appearance at the awards, but things could be awkward if both attend.

Australian Book Industry Awards are held annually be the Australian Publishers Association, previous high profile winners of the awards include Ash Barty, Trent Dalton and Leigh Sales.

Aside from the Illustrated Book of the Year nomination, Bellamy is also short-listed for the Marketing and Publicity Campaign of the Year.

Maehashi is only nominated for one category this year, however one of her cookbooks, titled RecipeTin Eats: Dinner, was chosen as the winner of the Illustrated Book of the Year category in 2023.

Originally published as Nagi Maehashi, Brooke Bellamy in running for Illustrated Book of the Year award