Brooke Bellamy’s New Life: First Photo with Newborn After RecipeTin Eats Plagiarism Scandal

Celebrity baker Brooke Bellamy has stepped out with her newborn daughter Colette for the first time since giving birth last month.

The cult cookie-maker – who made headlines earlier this year after being accused of plagiarising recipes from RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi – brushed off that messy saga as she enjoyed a sunny park outing in Brisbane on Monday.

Joined by her husband Justice and their eldest daughter, Brooke beamed as she carried baby Colette in a sling, embracing relaxed family life.

Brooke – who welcomed Colette on the same day she opened her new Brooki Bakehouse bakery in Brisbane – dressed casually in a maroon button-up shirt, jeans and a pair of brown clogs.

She accessorised with a gold ‘B’ pendant and stud earrings, and her famous flaming locks were swept into a loose plait.

Her husband was dutifully dressed in Brooki Bakehouse merchandise, sporting a branded cap and white T-shirt as he pushed his eldest daughter in her pram. 

During the outing, Justice was seen pushing his eldest daughter on the swing as Brooke lovingly watched on. 

Earlier that day – and in a clear sign her culinary career is firmly back on track after her high-profile feud with Nagi – Brooke visited one of her bakeries after taking just one month of maternity leave.

Dressed in a chef’s jacket, black trousers and brown clogs, the entrepreneur was seen pulling up to the venue in a black car and striding towards the front door.

She accessorised her look with a black tote bag, and pulled her hair into a sleek low bun with a beige scrunchie.

Back in April, RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi made headlines when she accused Brooke of plagiarising her caramel slice and baklava recipes for use in her best-selling cookbook Bake with Brooki. 

The claims sparked weeks of online scrutiny, with Brooke, who was pregnant at the time, forced to issue a series of statements defending her work.

In a video posted to her followers, Brooke admitted that her recipes were not wholly original – recipes almost never are – but insisted that they were still personal.

‘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.

She also revealed her biggest inspiration had always been close to home. 

‘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.’

Brooke rejected the suggestion that her work was stolen, pointing out that many recipes inevitably share similarities. 

‘While baking has leeway for creativity, much of it is a precise science and is necessarily formulaic,’ she said. 

‘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 been stolen for use in the cookbook and 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.