Raccoon Painted 3D Cake

Flavor: Sweet; Technique: Baking; Time: One hour; Difficulty: Moderate.

Detailed Steps for Making Raccoon Painted 3D Cake

Wash the black sesame seeds, roast them in a non-stick pan over low heat

Grind into powder, sift twice, set aside

Preheat ACA oven, top and bottom heat at 170 degrees Celsius

Break room temperature eggs into a mixing bowl, add granulated sugar and honey

Use an electric mixer to beat until the texture is visibly patterned and the dropped traces do not disappear quickly

Sift in cake flour, fold until no dry flour remains

Place cupcake liners in a 12-cup cupcake pan

Pour batter into cupcake cups, fill them about 80% full

Place in the middle of the ACA oven, top and bottom heat at 170 degrees Celsius, bake for about 15 minutes

Remove and let cool. The coloring should be even

While the cake is baking, make French buttercream: cut butter into small pieces, soften at room temperature, and spread evenly with a spatula

Put egg yolk, granulated sugar, butter, and milk in a pot, stir well, heat over low heat

Heat to 80 degrees Celsius, remove from heat, place the pot in a bowl of cold water to cool

Gradually add the cooled egg yolk mixture to the butter, beat with an electric mixer until fully combined

Divide into two portions, add black sesame powder to one portion to create a light gray color. Add a little bamboo charcoal powder to the other portion to create a dark gray color

Whip whipping cream with granulated sugar until it reaches piping consistency

Use whipped cream to roughly smooth the tops of the cupcakes. Natural-colored whipped cream was used due to competition rules. If food coloring is allowed, white can be used to adjust the yellow buttercream, resulting in a smoother finish and better integration with the buttercream decorations on top

Transfer light gray, dark gray, and white buttercream into separate piping bags. Initially, I used a Mont Blanc piping tip, but later found that the cupcakes were too small, so I switched to piping bags with smaller tips

Start with the light gray color, pipe out the outer outline of the eyes and mouth

Fill in the cheeks and forehead with the light gray color

Use the dark gray color to outline the eyes, leaving space for the eye circles, and fill in the eyebrows with white buttercream

Insert white chocolate chips into the cupcakes as ears, pipe light gray on the outer ring and dark gray buttercream on the inner ring

Use a small brush to gently brush the surface of the buttercream in the direction of the fur growth

Use melted dark chocolate to draw the pupils, nose, and mouth, and add highlights with buttercream

Once finished, do some final touch-ups and it’s ready to serve