GBBO's Dan Revealed The Story Behind His Last Place Elimination

Like many cooking shows these days, "The Great British Bake Off" is first and foremost a competition. However, "GBBO" differs from the likes of "Chopped" and "Iron Chef" in that it selects –- at most -– amateur bakers. According to the show's rules of entry, applicants cannot have any kind of professional culinary background "unless acquired over 10 years ago" and cannot be currently employed in any kind of commercial baking or cooking.

One of these amateur bakers featured on "GBBO" in 2019 was Dan Chambers, a healthcare support worker. Per Radio Times, Chambers' parents involved him with cooking from an early age, but it wasn't until he was 21 that he really got into baking. Unfortunately, Chambers' "GBBO" run was cut short when judges eliminated him the very first week, citing his fruit cake mistake as a raw cake. 

But was his fruit cake actually raw, or is something else going on here?

Despite the official reason for Dan Chambers' elimination being a "raw" fruit cake, Chambers says this wasn't the whole story. As it turns out, his unsatisfactory fruit cake was actually a victim to the lengthy wait between the end of the round and the judging period. Coincidentally, this food-unfriendly wait is why "Chopped" contestants always prepare an extra plate.

According to The Sun, Chambers' fruit cake and buttercream – different from royal icing – did not appreciate sitting out for two hours. "I put buttercream on my hot fruit cake," he said, "and because it had been sat for two hours the buttercream had seeped everywhere."

Chambers added that, while he agreed his fruit cake "wasn't very good," it certainly wasn't raw. Rather, the buttercream melted in the time it took everyone to clean up, and by time the judges got a taste, it was too late. 

Moral of the story? Next time you whip up your favorite fruit cake recipe, don't let it sit out for hours on end.