Martha Stewart has been accused of taking credit for a recipe she did not create during the early years of her career as a domestic lifestyle guru.
In a new CNN docuseries charting her legacy, the 82-year-old’s former catering staffer Sarah Gross claims that she was the brains behind one of the popular creations featured in Martha’s game-changing 1982 cookbook, Entertaining.
Speaking in the first episode of The Many Lives of Martha Stewart on Sunday night, Sarah recalled bringing along her ‘cranberry nut tart’ when she applied for a job at Martha’s first cooking business venture, The Market Basket.
After years of making the tart with Martha for the parties they catered for, Sarah was less than impressed when the recipe not only appeared in Entertaining, but when the celebrity cook also took credit for the creation while promoting the book on TV.
Martha Stewart has been accused of taking credit for a recipe she did not create during the early years of her career as a domestic lifestyle guru – pictured in 2024
A former catering staffer claims that she was the brains behind one of the popular creations featured in Martha’s game-changing 1982 cookbook, Entertaining
‘They became so much part of the repertoire that who knows if she even remembers that it was my recipe,’ Sarah said.
In a snippet taken from a promotional TV appearance at the time of the book’s release, a host asked Marta about her cranberry nut tart and where all her new recipes came from.
Martha replied: ‘Lots of these are recipes that I’ve been making all my life, and a lot of them are just created for the book.’
Indeed, Martha has since mentioned taking inspiration from Sarah’s recipes and even recalled why she lost out on being credited for some of her work during an episode of the In The Kitchen With Martha podcast in March 2023.
Speaking with Thomas Joseph and Sarah Carey, Martha opened up about how ‘Alexis’ famous chocolate chip cookies’ came to be.
‘Forty five years ago, when Alexis developed the recipe for me, that recipe was an evolution,’ Martha began.
‘Sarah Gross, who worked for me in my catering business. She had this delicious cookie recipe and I asked her for the recipe and she wouldn’t give it to me.’
She continued: ‘So I said to Alexis, I gave her the cookie and I said, “Here, make this recipe.” And in two tries, she had the recipe.
‘You know, it could have been Sarah’s famous chocolate. Sorry Sarah, but it’s Alexis’.’
The revelation is made by Sarah Gross in a new CNN docuseries charting the domestic icon’s legacy, titled The Many Lives of Martha Stewart
The first episode covers the growth of Martha’s first cooking business venture, The Market Basket, which she launched from her historic Connecticut farmhouse – pictured in 1980
Sarah says she introduced a cranberry nut tart recipe to Martha and they made it together for several years
In the episode, photographer Michael Skott – who captured the images used in Entertaining – stated: ‘ [Martha] worked hard for it and she was driven but everything was a team effort and there were a lot of people that worked with Martha when I was involved with her, that also came up with ideas.
‘How it worked that it ended up being Martha’s idea? Well, that’s another story.’
During her time with Martha, Sarah has said that she eventually managed Martha’s catering business while the celebrity cook’s star began to rise on a national scale.
However, Sarah says that their business relationship came to an end when she demanded to be given proper credit for her work within the business.
She explained: ‘I was working for Martha, getting paid eight to 10 dollars an hour max. I don’t think I ever got paid more than that, and I was doing so much for her.
‘So I set up a time to talk to her. I got there and Andy Stewart was there and I asked Martha… I told her that if I was going to be giving my heart and soul, and by that point I felt like I was, that I needed a title.’
Sarah continued: ‘I needed something to call myself in relationship to this business that had been growing in front of me.
‘And Andy says, “Martha is gonna be as big as McDonald’s, and we’re not giving that away.”‘
Sarah claims that pair’s business relationship came to an end when she demanded to be given proper credit for her work, with Martha’s husband (pictured) witnessing the encounter
Martha has since mentioned taking inspiration from Sarah’s recipes and even recalled why Sarah lost out on being credited for some her work in a March 2023 podcast
The disgruntled caterer concluded: ‘That’s Martha, she had a vision of where she wanted to go and nothing and nobody was going to get in her way.’
After she parted ways with Martha, Sarah went on to launch her own catering company named Cabbages & Kings Catering.
Back in 2019, a recipe for a Nut-Crusted Cranberry Tart was shared on marthastewart.com.
The description simply stated, ‘Martha made this recipe on episode 701 of Martha Bakes,’ citing an episode which originally aired in July 2016.
Since starting her catering business in the basement of her home in 1976, Martha has famously gone on to become a business mogul to be reckoned with.
Indeed, when Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia went public back in 1999, the success made her the first female self-made billionaire in the United States.
With 48 books and several TV shows under her belt, the mother-of-one, from New Jersey, has also built a hugely success website and writes a newsletter, which reportedly has a readership of 12 million.
DailyMail.com has contacted Martha’s representatives for comment.
The final two episodes of The Many Lives of Martha Stewart will air on February 4 at 9pm and 10pm on CNN