Who’s up for a cupcake feast at Animal Kingdom’s Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery?!
A longtime favorite in regards to offering some pretty fantastic bakery eats, Kusafiri is one of those places I just have to stop every time I visit Animal Kingdom. This little shop is home to several bakery favorites (namely, the Cotton Top Tamarin Cupcake and African Spice Cake), and even has a limited breakfast menu that still manages to impress with unique items such as the Warm Colossal Cinnamon Roll and Hot Breakfast Wrap, despite its size.
Alongside the classics, Kusafiri is often a place to find something new, and it didn’t disappoint on a recent visit. To my chagrin, though, I discovered that some of my favorites have undergone a bit of a makeover.
Kusafiri Bakery menu
Let’s start with the good news…
Lion Cub Cupcake
The list of Gourmet Cupcakes has expanded with the Lion Cub Cupcake.
Lion Cub cupcake
I showed this handsome little guy off on my Instagram a while back (‘cuz how could I not — I mean, how cute is little Simba?!), and have been excited to show him to you on the blog ever since. The fondant Simba topping the cupcake (similar to the toppers you’ll find on the Gourmet Cake Cups at Magic Kingdom’s Cheshire Cafe) is surrounded by a mane of frosting. ROAR!!
The flavor? Passionfruit. It comes through in the pudding-like filling tucked in the vanilla cake under the white vanilla frosting.
Inside the Lion Cub cupcake
Lion Cub cupcake filling
The citrus is mellowed by the creaminess of the vanilla, which is a combo I love. Plus, you can’t argue with the added cute factor, so there’s that.
If Simba just can’t wait to be king, he may have already accomplished that here at Kusafiri, especially in light of the changes to a couple of classic standbys: the White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake and the Zebra Cupcake.
Lion Cub cupcake and White Chocolate Elephant cupcake
White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake
It was love at first site with the White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake when it hit the scene years ago. A cupcake topped with a gorgeous white chocolate elephant lollipop, it was the coolest two-for-one snack EVER. But what really made this cupcake one of the greats was the buttercream frosting on top, with a surprise second batch of carmelly delicious German chocolate cake frosting tucked underneath. BAM! Here is a picture of the previous version:
White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake
The current version of this treat is really just a shadow of its former glory. Our white chocolate elephant still graces the top, but the base is now just chocolate frosting on top of chocolate cake — no surprises here.
Current White Chocolate Elephant cupcake
Inside of the current White Chocolate Elephant cupcake
It’s okay, but who wants “okay” where you previously had “out of this world”? Sigh.
Zebra Cupcake
I hate to break it to ya, but the Zebra Cupcake differs a bit now from what it used to be, too. The basic gist is the same: vanilla cake and buttercream frosting, topped with chocolate pieces decorated to represent zebra stripes. Those chocolate pieces were the hallmark of this cupcake, and were previously a mix of both white and dark chocolate, tucked into the frosting to jut out at all sorts of fun and crazy angles. Here’s another “Back when I was your age, this cupcake looked like THIS” shot:
Previous version of the Zebra Cupcake
And here it is now, in front of the Cotton Top Tamarin cupcake…
Current Zebra cupcake
No more mix of white and dark chocolate shavings — the current stripes are decorations on pieces of dark chocolate. Sigh x 2.
Overall
The Lion Cub Cupcake is really a small work of art, so we can all rest assured that Kusafiri is definitely still capable of cupcake greatness. But I’d be lying if I said I was psyched about the makeovers of two of the most legendary Disney World cupcakes. It won’t keep me from visiting Kusafiri every time I visit Animal Kingdom — one, because they’re still pumping out gems, and two, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an un-makeover of the White Chocolate Elephant and Zebra Cupcakes. As always, we’ll keep you posted!
What do you think of the cupcakes at Kusafiri Bakery? Please let us know with a comment!
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Nooo! I have been dreaming of the White Chocolate Elephant cupcake as my reward for running 13.1 miles in the Princess Half Marathon!
Wow big disappointment here.:( Also the cupcake looked a little dry.
Sad day.
Hey! I totally got me a Simba cupcake on my trip a couple weeks ago! And the frosting was AMAZING. But I am way bummed about those cupcake makeovers – none of those changes are good. Harrumph.
Did they get rid of the breakfast wrap? I was hoping to try one but don’t see it on the menu anymore. 🙁
During my last trip I was really looking forward to having the elephant cupcake after seeing the pictures and reading the great reviews here on DFB. However, they already had the current version shown above — it was a major disappointment. The cake part was ok, but the chocolate frosting was just not very good — way too much, very hard, and really not great tasting — ended up throwing most of the frosting away — plus my chocolate elephant was cracked and missing part of one ear. If someone from Disney reads these posts, please bring back the old versions!
They have the best iced coffee I found when I was there two years ago–before Starbucks came into Disney. I also loved the little hidden seating off to the side. Perfect place to rest. Excited to get another yummy iced coffee in 50 days 🙂
What about the paw print brownie? That was my favorite! I hope it hasn’t changed!
I tried the simba cupcake. It wasn’t dry, but I felt like the only flavor was in the pudding center. I LOVED the pudding but there wasn’t enough of it IMO! I think the frosting needs to be flavored with passion fruit as well. It’s just…sugar flavored. Not my favorite cupcake. Although it is very cute 🙂
The new elephant cupcake was such a disappointment – it’s the same cupcake as the tamarin, just with a different figure on the top. I had only recently discovered the awesome German chocolate version – I had hoped that we got a temporary scrwe-up. I’m very sad to learn the change is permanent.
I had the White Elephant Cupcake on my list of “must haves” for my upcoming trip in April…now it’s off. I was looking forward to the German chocolate version. I’m so disappointed in the change.
I was so excited to try the white chocolate elephant cupcake during my last visit in August. I ordered it and they gave me the chocolate one and I said no thank you it was not what I was expecting. (I am not a big chocolate fan) They apologized and gave us a Simba cupcake and a zebra cupcake for free! We loved them and got one of each to go.
I literally shed tears when I got up to the register and saw the love of my life, my white elephant cupcake, had been turned into a regular cupcake! That was a sad day for me. The CM told me I wouldn’t want to buy this one, if I had loved the other one because it was “nothing special”. Boohoo hoo hoo. What a disappointment.
The original White Elephant Cupcake might have been the most spectacular cupcake I have ever eaten. I first got it on a trip in March 2014.. I returned in November 2014, drooling over the idea of getting it again. I was incredibly disappointed when I got to the window and saw the new White Elephant Cupcake. The CM saw my face and said that most people have been disappointed when they see it. It was just a cupcake… nothing special. Here’s hoping they go back to the old version before October 2015! (I’m salivating just thinking about the original)
I just returned from WDW this past Wed (Mar 25, 2015) — the cupcakes at Kusafiri have NOT been restored to their original glory — still the newer (worse) versions. I told the CM they should bring back the original versions — I wasn’t going to spend $5+ on these new ones. She said she hears that a lot. Why couldn’t Disney have an independent food “quality control” department (even just a couple of people) who would go “undercover” and make sure that quality and the guest experience remain top notch? At the least, there should be a management directive dictating that there be constant checking with the CMs on the front line dealing with the customers about what the customers are saying about the product — and what the CMs themselves think about the product! — and that should be at all Disney food locations.
Any news if the Brownie Paw will be returning or relocating? It was so good!