Epcot Food and Wine Culinary Demonstration with Emily Ellyn

Do you know Emily Ellyn? I had the chance to meet Emily Ellyn during America’s Cake Fair. I found out that Emily Ellyn was doing an Epcot Food and Wine demonstration and I just had to see her again. This was my first time attending a demonstration and it is something you should try!

Personally, I was excited to see her again because I love all things retro and she is the Retro Rad Diva. She was the emcee of the Cake Fair and her bubbly, quirky personality shined the whole time.

What is an Epcot Food and Wine Culinary Demonstration?

Inside of the Epcot Festival Center, classrooms are set up. They resemble kitchen sets from TV cooking shows and have tables set up so people can watch the chef or presentation while being served. Demos take place Monday through Thursday at 2:30 PM; Friday through Sunday at 12:15 PM and 2:30 PM.

The price of each Culinary Demonstration is $17 per person. All appearances, presentations, and events are subject to change without notice.

If you are just interested in watching the demo without tasting the food, you can stand outside of the gated presentation area and watch the demonstration. The presenter has a mic on which can be heard throughout the Festival Center. You still get a pretty good vantage point. Actually, I signed up for this and my husband did not. He got better pictures of the demonstration because I was late and my seat was pretty far to the side. Next time I go to one of these, I will get there earlier.

A lot of the presenters are from local Florida places like Publix, bakeries, and culinary schools. Some are presenters from Walt Disney World restaurants. Emily Ellyn attended UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality and Management in Orlando.

You don’t need to take notes during the presentation unless you want to. A copy of the recipe is at your table to take home and put into your recipe binder.

All About Emily Ellyn

Emily Ellyn was on the Next Food Network Star Season 8. She was a pretty fierce competitor and was a finalist. What I loved about Emily is that she always had her “brand” down pat while everyone else was trying to find their point of view. Emily is authentic. The person you see on TV is the person you get in real life. She is retro rad!

Emily Ellyn has also been on Cutthroat Kitchen, which she won! I liked that she mentioned her experiences on TV during her demonstration. She has also been on Cupcake Wars but I haven’t seen that episode. While researching this post, I also see that she volunteers for Give Kids the World.

Epcot Food and Wine Culinary Demonstration with Emily Ellyn

When I first saw what Emily Ellyn was making for her demonstration, I almost didn’t want to go. For some reason, Candied Fennel Upside-down cake with Citrus Chocolate Pudding with Toasted Fennel Sesame Brittle and Orange Ash sounded so weird to me. I decided to go for it and expand my picky palette, which is something I urge people to do while at Disney especially during the International Food and Wine Festival.

Emily Ellyn made the whole dessert look so easy to do. Her tips and tricks to make things go easier and taste better in the kitchen were so helpful. She gave information to not only make this dessert better but everything you bake better. Emily also delved a little bit into the science of it all, kind of like a girl version of Alton Brown.

My favorite part of her presentation was her tip to make the dessert for your own taste by substituting some of the ingredients to ones you can easily get or prefer. 

The Candied Fennel Upside-down cake with Citrus Chocolate Pudding with Toasted Fennel Sesame Brittle and Orange Ash dessert ended up tasting pretty good. I think because our desserts were previously made and prepped the cake was a little drier than I would have liked. The pudding was my favorite part and I’m excited to remake the recipe on my own. The brittle tasted really sweet and had more of a sticky caramel texture. All of the flavors blended so well together.

After the demonstration, Emily Ellyn met everyone for autographs and pictures. I was pretty excited that she remembered me from the Cake Fair. Sorry for the blurry pic, my husband just got a new phone was not familiar with the camera yet. 

Have you ever been to an Epcot Food and Wine Culinary Demonstration before? What was it like and what did you learn? Let me know in the comments!

Thank You for Spreading the Pixie Dust!