I felt major FOMO when I saw so many of my fellow Asian bakers posting bunny-themed desserts during Lunar New Years(I was unfortunately in Texas during the week leading up to it with limited access to a kitchen, so I could not join in on the bunny dessert festivities nor did I have the foresight to make a bunny-themed dessert then). So instead, we are making up for it in spade loads, and doing a couple of rabbit and bunny-shaped desserts for Easter, since that is the next appropriate time to make such things. For these checkerboard rabbits, I wanted them to be a play on yin and yang, featuring both a black rabbit, as well as a white rabbit. The most appropriate ingredient that highlights both black and white is sesame, so that was an absolute no-brainer in terms of using that to flavor these little guys. I also knew I wanted to do a fun little checkerboard cookie on top as garnish, just it would just look cute to have something small resting on top of the little bunnies.

For the components, there are only a handful, although since these petit gateau feature a black or white sesame version, there are a lot of repeating steps to do so. There is either a black or white sesame mousse, housing a caramel sesame core, with a checkerboard sesame cookie garnish, and that same cookie dough is used as the base for the mousses to sit on top of(I used any leftover dough for the bases, since nobody would really see them at first glance anyways). Both the cookies and the mousses will require backtracking and repeating the below listed recipes, just to ensure that there are both a black and a white sesame-based version. The core is the only thing that is consistent across both rabbits. The intention was more to have something that was black and white sesame-speckled, with a caramel-type of flavor that would complement both kinds of sesame! The core is ironically similar to Chinese nian gao(sweet sticky rice cakes) that are eaten during the Lunar New Year, aka when I would have posted this recipe if I had been smart enough to realize 2023 was the year of the rabbit and I managed to make a rabbit-themed dessert in time for it. That being said, these bunnies are super cute, and they have a lowkey Alice in Wonderland aesthetic going on that I am pretty happy with!

For the sesame checkerboard cookies:
50g butter
26g tahini(I subbed this with 1g activated charcoal and 26g black sesame butter for the black sesame dough)
104g flour
5g cornstarch
72g sugar 
Salt
15g water
1 egg white*

In a food processor, combine these ingredients, minus the egg white, together to form your dough. I made one batch using tahini for the lighter dough, and repeated this recipe, subbing out the tahini with the activated charcoal and black sesame butter, for the darker dough. In short, you will need to actually double up the above recipe, minus the egg white to make the two doughs.

Refrigerate both doughs for at least 1 hour. On a floured surface, roll each dough out to roughly 1/2-inch thickness. Brush one side of one of the doughs with egg white. Press the other dough on top, and trim or press the edges so that the doughs for a square. Cut the square into 1/2-inch thick rectangles. Brush one of the sides of the rectangles with more egg wash, Arrange the rectangles so that you have alternating colors between the two rows of dough and press two rectangles together. Repeat with all of the rectangles of dough. Refrigerate the dough, covered, for another hour. Then cut the dough into 1/4-inch thick slices, cutting them across the cross section. Place the cookies onto a lined sheet tray, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes. Reserve 6 sable for garnish, and use the rest for the base of the mousses.

For the sesame cores:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp tahini paste
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp miso paste or a pinch of salt
1 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp cold water
3 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
2 tbsp toasted black sesame seeds

In a pot, heat up the sugar until it turns an amber-cold color. Add in the tahini paste, milk, and miso/salt first, stirring on low heat until everything is combined. Then add in the gelatin, stirring again on low heat until that is melted in completely. Then fold in the sesame seeds. Pour the mixture into shallow 1-inch silicone disk containers and freeze solid, at least 1 hour, before using in the assembly process.

For the black sesame mousse:
1oz black sesame butter
1 tsp activated charcoal powder
2oz white chocolate chips
1 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp cold water
3oz milk
a pinch of salt
4oz heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, heat up the black sesame butter, activated charcoal powder, white chocolate, gelatin, milk, and salt until everything is combined and melted together. Take the mixture off heat and allow it to cool down to room temperature before folding in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Transfer to a piping bag.

For the white sesame mousse:
1oz tahini paste
2oz white chocolate chips
1 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp cold water
3oz milk
a pinch of salt
4oz heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, heat up the tahini paste, white chocolate, gelatin, milk, and salt until everything is combined and melted together. Take the mixture off heat and allow it to cool down to room temperature before folding in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Transfer to a piping bag.

For assembly:
Start by filling 3 silicone bunny molds with each kind of mousse. Press into each mold a still-frozen sesame core. Freeze the mousses for at least 3 hours before attempting to unmold. Garnish the base with some sable, and the top with more sable as well.