Maandazi

Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery, in the Africa section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, has been a tucked away treat for baked goods for quite some time. These days, however, it is becoming the governing body on the treat within a treat, or two treats for the price of one, niche. The White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake, which features a white chocolate elephant lollipop atop a mountain of cupcake and frosting, has a devoted following already, but something new has been taking a run at the White Elephant in the past few months.

The Cotton-Top Tamarin Cupcake was introduced in August as a part of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s month long celebration known as, what else, Cotton-Top Tamarin Month. The festivities centered around the August 15 holiday from Columbia, South America, Day of the Cotton-Top Tamarin, and the fact that the one pound primates were returning to the Tree of Life area of the park. While the cupcake was available in multiple locations during August, Kusafiri is the only site still serving this delicious treat.

The cupcake is listed as being comprised of “Chocolate Cake with Buttercream and Dark Chocolate,” but is so much more than that. Let’s start with the cake. The Disney Park’s Blog listed the hefty cake portion as a dark chocolate, and while it has the richness associated with a dark chocolate cake, there is not a hint of bitterness and a lot of rich sweetness to make this cake a favorite of mine. The cake is topped with a wonderful buttercream! I hope this continues and that, as time passes, we do not find that a grainy, overly sugary frosting takes its place. The buttercream is adorned with large shavings of dark chocolate, and if you’re a fan of the shavings in a typical French silk pie, you’ll love these additions.

What am I forgetting? Oh yeah, the Cotton-Top Tamarin themselves! The entire cupcake was the brainchild of Pastry Chef Andreas Born. Included in that delicious brainstorm was construction of molds for the white and dark chocolate portions of the Tamarin chocolate pop. The lollipop was great, but it is not really a have one snack now and save one for later type of deal. I shared the cupcake and lollipop with two very good friends, and we were all extremely satisfied. However, this would also be a great treat to eat either the cupcake or lollipop and give the other to a friend or family member. They’ll love you for it either way!

I have long been a proponent of visiting the Kusafiri window (could you imagine if the bakery actually had the space to put together a display case?!?!) for something sweet in the mornings or midafternoon. The Cotton-Top Tamarin Cupcake has only added to my conviction that more guests should be taking advantage of this sweet spot. So, what are you waiting for?