Plenty of treats out there

Some snacks don’t look pretty, but sure are satisfying to devour, while others leave no lasting impression either visually or flavor-wise. At Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery, found in the wilds of Africa in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, there is a wide array of basic pastries that will fit the breakfast or snack need, but not remembered by lunchtime. There is also a trio of extraordinary treats worth remembering and scouring deep into the menu for. Today, we’ll look at one of these dishes, the Zebra Cupcake.

To look at the Zebra Cupcake is to know you are about to eat a really great piece of pastry. The yellow cake foundation is barely visible between the chocolate-colored wrapper and the mountain of icing. Marbled sheets of chocolate have been cracked, and the zebraesque shards perched atop the heaping pile of icing. It is, without a doubt, one of the most artistically beautiful food items I have come across in Walt Disney World.

Gawking aside, the Zebra Cupcake actually leaves a lot of cohesion to be desired. The buttercream icing, chocolate splinters and all, slid entirely off of the yellow cupcake while I attempted to get the first bite. With the cupcake in segments now, the chocolate was high quality and I can see where it would have worked well with the yellow cake. The buttercream icing, however, had a grainy texture and felt as if it had chilled for too long and had hardened for too long. As for the cake, while yellow cake is a simple form of cake, it was very tasty, with a light, yet dense, texture and an unpretentious flavor.

This substantially sized sugar slab will, undoubtedly, fill up even the hungriest of snackers. It will not, be remembered for its flavors and consistency between layers. However, when thinking back on the great snacks from a trip, the Zebra Cupcake will be remembered for its pleasant presentation.