By John Hayden
From food on a stick to fried everything, there’s no food like fair food. Just the thought can conjure up the smell of carnival confections wafting through the air. Netflix’s competition show, The Blue Ribbon Baking Championship, puts all those tasty treats on display and pits a group of blue ribbon-pedigreed chefs against each other for the most delicious competition yet.
The champion is Nathan Chandler, a baker from Pocatello, Idaho, a gay man and big fan of South Florida. He vacations here frequently with his partner, Josh (a flower producer), and their friend LD (a florist). Chandler shared his journey and winning creations with OutClique.
One of his social media posts caught the attention of a producer who slid into his DMs and said if he was ever interested in a fair-food-themed competition, to let them know. Before he knew it, he was on set mixing up flour, compote, strawberries, and more. They looked so good the judges hated cutting them.
The competition spanned several rounds, with new challenges each day. “They tell you going into the challenge, and you have a little bit of time to figure out what you’re going to do. It’s an on-the-fly situation,” he said.
While competing against a group of talented chefs, his biggest challenge was the clock. Contestants had two hours to complete the assignment, but much of that time was spent proofing dough, baking, and other processes that can’t be rushed.
“You have no control over the bake or cooling times. You need to break down a timeline for yourself. This is how long it’s going to take me to make it, to bake it, to chill it, and then to decorate it. We had freezers, but even that can only cool a hot cake so fast.”
Chandler wasn’t afraid to push the limits of baking. “I made a pineapple upside-down cake, which is the one thing everyone says you can’t make quickly. The cake is hot, the fruit is hot. It was scary, but when the culinary people yell at you and say, ‘Bakers, you have twenty-five minutes left,’ you don’t have a choice. You just gotta go.”
The show is hosted by Jason Biggs of American Pie fame. He not only takes viewers through the challenges but is also the one yelling out how much time is left. Chandler says that was all very real and very stressful. When asked if he ever wanted to turn around and yell, “Shut up, pie guy,” he was quick to respond.
“Oh, absolutely! Or I would look at the other contestants. I’d look over and see they’re halfway done, and I’m still way behind. Every time they would yell a time stamp, I was like, ‘Be quiet!’”
Idaho is known for being very conservative, but between Chandler, Josh, and LD, they’ve carved out a niche for themselves in the community. Call it a Justice League of Fabulousness. They create beautiful arrangements and confections for major events as far away as Salt Lake City and Palm Springs. Since the series dropped, Chandler says people from outside Idaho have detoured from their planned vacations to get fresh treats from his Confections Bakery.
There has been some pushback from LGBTQIA+ haters since the show aired, but mostly, he’s been feeling the love.
“The love outweighs the hate. I’m waking up every day to hundreds of messages from people all over the world. We’re not on there doing anything crazy. We’re baking cake.”
