Paris S'éveille: L'Oasis and Bostock

Walked 5 km/h to Jiyugaoka (maybe faster/too fast at first) to visit Paris S'éveille, where I got L'Oasis for 580 yen and a Bostock for 350 yen.

L'Oasis is whipped cream with orange and mascarpone cheese with more orange in a layer in the middle inside just a few millimeters of cake wrapped around (for transport, they put a cylinder of rigid plastic around it). Did not expect much from this combination, but was surprised: this was definitely excellent.

First time for their Bostock. It's not double-baked, so very soft and with a strong (for bostock I've had) liquor taste. Also excellent.

Forgot to photo shop again, but walked back 4 stations to get to a Metro line (checking walking endurance & saving money by avoiding Tokyu train line), so took a picture from far end of Meguro (? versus Naka-Meguro) Ginza Street, the shopping street leading to Naka-Meguro Station.

Dalloyau: Charme

Walked a little too fast but maybe closer to 5 km/h than 6 km/m to Dalloyau for Charme for 486 yen (so no stamp in my Carte de fidélité). It's strawberry and whipped cream on top, which is a turn off and why I never got to this previously. Then dacquoise, vanilla cream, strawberry gelatin, vanilla cream, and dacquoise. This gel is good = not gummy. This is not my favorite thing, but it does what it does well and I appreciate diversity. It would be worth learning to make for someone else, so I'm rating it excellent. Sorry, forgot to take picture of shop.

For research purposes, got a Chocolat Noir macaron (250 yen) from Le Chocolat de H one street over. I wish I could get half that much foot, but the texture is not completely different from my last effort. Need longer drying and less baking, maybe. Mixing might have been okay.

And a chocolate filled donut-type oily sugar bomb （Beignet Chocolat Noisette?) from Paul at Yotsuya Station (324 yen). Long time since I've seen the Beignet Chocolat. Not sure that the nuts are fooling anyone, but I still find it hard to resist, at least once in a while.

Amitié: Mon Régal

6 km/h walking turned out to be too much. Little surprised I was better enough to go out today, just barely, but stuck to 5 km/h for about 6.5 km, with a pause in the middle for cake at Amitié (you can eat in until 8 pm). Looks like that's as fast as I'll be going for a while.
Cake was the Mon Régal for 470 yen, which is definitely excellent. Like a well-cooked brownie (not burnt, but crispy/dry, and sugary) on a butter tart with a little raspberry, like 1 mm, and even less chocolate ganache to hold it in place. You can see what I assume is flakes from freeze-dried raspberries on top. Marked as a chef's favorite. I'd like to make it. Great balance between the raspberry and chocolate. I'll include photos of the shop, although there is not much to see at night.

Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel Pastry Shop: Chocolat Blanc Vanille

Despite the rain, thought I was ready to at least walk far for cake, so did about 8,5 km walking at about 6 km/h. Definitely could feel it in my weak leg spot, so not ready to go faster, but my leg feels and felt okay compared to sitting at a desk all day (well, I do get up and I walk a couple kilometers for lunch). Next maybe I' try a round trip to Ginza at the same speed, which is 2 km longer. I'll work my way back up to running slowly.

Today's cake was Chocolat Blanc Vanille for 648 yen from the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel Pastry Shop. Asked for ice this time, because it was an hour return, but got ice in the bag outside the box, not in the box: weird place. The cake was definitely good, vanilla and white chocolate, but the main part was a little too gelatinous for me (liked the firm center more). I know it's summer, but I make no allowances. Thus, they are off my high-priority list. I'll have to get around to trying a different new place by next week, but there are several other places I want to go soon.

Sunday: Jean-Paul Hévin (Isetan chocolate bar)

Catching up on my reporting (so I can get something new, after  walking there), I went to the Jean-Paul Hévin chocolate bar at Isetan. We got one cake, the Bergam for 699 yen, and one "ice", Glace Pilée au Chocolat Rhubarbe Mangue for 1388 yen.

The cake Bergamot is orange-flavored chocolate mousse with a little orange Bavarian cream. There are also some ganache and crunchy bit biscuit toward the bottom. The orange just blends with the chocolate, I couldn't really taste it to identify it, though there is a fruitiness. This, finally, is a great cake. I can look forward to having it again.

Ice deserts like Glace Pilée au Chocolat Rhubarbe Mangue I don't get. I don't really even like chocolate ice cream any more, I find, though I would prefer that to "ice". It's chocolate favor with with mango and rhubarbe (though I didn't notice the latter). There is some gummy stuff in there too, which I don't know what it was. It was not really bad, but for me, only okay. Not something I would ever order myself.

Saturday: Palet d'Or

Finally went to the Palet d'Or chocolatier/café. Not sure of the names, since didn't have when I ordered, but close to Vogue for the chocolate pistachio and maybe Al Cioccolato for the chocolate cake with some nuts. Both definitely good and nice atmosphere café, but nothing exceptional to take me back, although the chocolates were also good (caramel, cognac, and praliné).

Thursday: Demel, Black Tea Torte

I'm behind writing from injury and having other things to do, but I'm past the immediate peaks of both, I think. Still typing one-handed, although some of the other hand's fingers could and may help out, although they're tired now (can't use chopsticks with my off hand for much).

Last week, leg still not right, though progressed more toward pins and needles than burning. Got cake from Demel, their Black Tea Torte, which seemed my best bet, among four choices. It's 540 yen and pretty substantial, so a good deal. Not sure that I could really identify the tea. I suppose there was chocolate in there too (besides the decoration), but too long ago to remember well; certainly not a major amount. It was definitely good, nice creamy torte, but was special, to make me look forward to having it again.

The same day, on the baking front, I managed macaron-like chocolate sandwich cookies (with chocolate ganache filling), that were actually delicious, but since it was the actual macaronage step where I failed, I won't call them maracons or show a picture (shells were both deformed, due to too thick batter, and cracked, although that might mean they needed more than the 1 hour of drying I gave them, though maybe they wouldn't have if they had been less fat). Since I've got them looking right but too dry previously, from overbaking, I can probably do better next time.

Need two more post to catch up, and then there is the email to answer.

Sunday & Monday: Isetan

Left leg still having a problem,  so did not go far. Actually seemed okay for walking until just now: not happy from sitting in front of TV, but seemed pretty okay going out for shopping today. I'll see whether I want to walk somewhere tomorrow. Hand is somewhat better, but I need to stop using it so much still.

Yesterday, got Blueberry from Shiseido Parlour for 561 yen. It is cheese/yogurt mousse cake. It's good, but not special.

Today I got Duja for 623 yen, which is chocolate and hazelnut, but I ate it without letting it cool back down enough in the refrigerator first. Hard season for cake lovers, so it was good, but not more than that. I'd like to try again under better conditions.

Same goes for an Henri le Roux Dauphinois (also hazelnut praline and chocolate) chocolate from yesterday, because I'm a slow learner, though there I made the mistake of not getting ice. 

Frédéric Cassel: Breteuil

Left hand a little better, but not ready to use typing. According to Wikipedia, 80% of tendinosis cases fully heal within 1 year, so looking forward to that.

In that vein, I may be rushing the left leg tendon: felt a little funny Thursday, when I did ~1.6 km @ 8 km/h (easier to write than 1 km time range I actually calculate). Did 6 km @ 8 km/h Friday night for cake (more below), and still seemed iffy but maybe okay for that speed (which is like a fastish walk). But trying more Saturday, I gave up at P. Shima (who failed to have the advertised bostock) and quickly gave up even trying to walk to my ultimate cake destination, instead just walking home. Wasn't really painful, but there was a signal there, so I'm going to listen to it. Maybe walk some distance tomorrow, but no running at any speed for now.

The cake from Frédéric Cassel Friday night was the Breteuil (presumably) for the usual 756 yen. It's a pistachio dome. Very creamy, reminding me of pistachio ice cream without being all cold and wet. Not actually my favorite flavor, but was quickly sure that it was excellent and ultimately decided that I was really impressed, in the sense that I'd love to know how to make it myself, so I'm calling this my fifth great cake from this shop. The pistachio layer is about 1 cm thick and isn't soft or gelatinous, so maybe the cream is pistachio butter; I just don't enough about cake. The bottom is a nutty biscuit, and there are nut pieces/cluster above that (but not an annoying anchor-nugget. Also, in the center is a brownish cream fillig, which was not strong enough to figure out, although a weak chocolate or caramel Bavarian cream would make sense.

If I get cake today, it will be from Isetan, but I've got my own baking plans to combine most of the parts for praline opera cake (the most complicated filling I'll leave out until next time).

Shima: Paris Framboise

Rushing thru congested sidewalks in Yotsuya, went too fast: 2.3 km out at 5'30''-6'10''/km pace, which counts as 3.45 km of my budgeted 12 km of 6'10-7'/km, and 2.2 km back just under 7'/km. Need to work on my pacing.

To P. Shima (in Kojimachi) for Paris Framboise, which has nuts (supposedly; must be paste or cream) and puff pasty layers top and bottom, as well as raspberry, for 540. Like mille-feuille, cream tends to squeeze out if one tries to cut through from top, but still excellent, like the shop so far. Raspberry delicious without being overwhelming.

Yesterday, no running, but tried a C.B.S. chocolate from Henri le Roux, for 324 yen. Excellent caramel chocolate.

Cerulean Tower-Tokyu-Hotel Pastry Shop: Isocele

2 km @ 6'10'' to 7'/km & 7 km @ 7' 8'/km. Okay, but hot and humid. Used up budget (6 km & 21 km, respectively), so no running tomorrow. New budget starts Wednesday: 12 km & 22 km, respectively. Not much for a 3-day weekend, so maybe finally try bike again.

Cake shop was a new visit: Cerulean Tower-Tokyu-Hotel Pastry Shop just past Shibuya Station (congested in every way).

Cake:  Isocele @ 699 yen: no ice in box! Must ask next time. Still, excellent in a candy bar way, but I'm biased toward chocolate (tho not necessarily milk) and lots of hazelnut, and lemon cream harmonized well (at least warm), so should go back next week.

(Weekend) La Boutique de Joel Robuchon, Marunouchi

Busy, but cake at La Boutique de Joel Robuchon, Marunouchi Saturday. Casual cafe, one step up from Starbucks: order from menu at register, paper cups, but cake brought to table, and fancy cake.

Blanc Blanc (Chocolat  Blanc) @ 583 yen: white chocolate w. little raspberry (?).

Moelleux Ｃhocolat Amer @ 540 yen: dark chocolate layer cake with chocolate chunks.

Both good.

Sunday, 1 km @ 7'-8'/km pace, 4 km @ 6'10''-7'/km pace. No problems.

(Thursday) Frédéric Cassel: Tarte Pêches

7 km running at 7'-8'/km pace, w. 1:4 walking, okay, except pauses about the same as intersection stops, so timing not really needed for cake running.

Tendinitis in left hand, very bad. Must do research: doctor's electric current treatment, suspicious.

Frédéric Cassel: Tarte Pêches @ 648 yen.  Excellent inspiration (monthly special).  Weak, thin, hard shell holds shape of mascarpone cream. Delirious (red/Western) peach, also little unknown red fruit (raspberry?) filling.

Rational: Éclair Citron Sicilian

Got cake from Isetan first again, this time from a shop new to me, and relatively new in general, Rational. I was greedy, going the first day, so the best choice was the Éclair Citron Sicilian for 464 yen. Actually, it was good. I'm coming around to éclairs. This was was very lemony and sweet, with honey, I read. which is good and bad. It is good cake, but limited, but then an éclair is a fairly limited canvas to work with, so they did okay, just I have a lot of other cakes I want to eat. Hope to try a cake from them again eventually.

 

On the running, as planned, I did 48 mins of 7'-8'/km running in 4 min stretches separated by 1 min walking (or standing at a light, is okay, though not so many and the timing rarely works out. Still, nothing seems worse and it might be better, which I'm satisfied. If the weather cooperates, I'll try Ginza again, but I'll go as far as Maruuchi 1 if I have to (I know about 6 shops that I've never visited, all but one open until 21:00, so something should be available).

Sadaharu Aoki: Mille-feuille Vanille

Today, I ran down to Tokyo Midtown, at a 2-min running, 1-min walking, 7-8 min/km pace. My goal was to get a new flavor of kouign amann at Henri le Roux, but no change. I'll try again in a couple weeks, since I don't know their schedule. Instead, I got the Mille-feuille Vanille from Sadaharu Aoki, since I can't get it at Isetan. It's not cheap, of course, being 780 yen, and it was not really that great. It was good. It's three layers of pastry and two layers of pastry cream with no fruit. There were also pastry flakes on the side, but that's okay. The top was a hard caramel, whereas I would prefer something softer, but it doesn't make it that much more difficult to eat than it already is. As I said, it was good, but not better than that, so I am dropping them from my Great Shop list, which is down to just five: Henri le Roux, which is perfectly safe because they always have the same four cakes; Frédéric Cassel, which is one good cake from dropping off, though I've never had anything that wasn't at least excellent, but I'll want another great cake eventually to keep them; Paris S'éveille, which is in a better position as far as number of great cakes, if not physically convenient; Dalloyau, which is better on both counts; and finally Jean-Paul Hévin, which is really the one to beat and has always been my favorite.

Running was okay, but the leg is not perfect (although much better than the arm, which is the limiting factor still even in running), so I'll stick to the schedule. I got 19 km this week, 2 km at a faster 6'10'' to 7'/km pace, so next week (starting tomorrow), I want 27 km, 6 km of the faster pace. I'll also switch to about 4-min running and 1-min walking

Pierre Hermé, Madame Figaro

Got a 12th cake from Pierre Hermé at Isetan, Madame Figaro for 756 yen. It's sort of a fruit cake bottom, with really moist to the point of being almost mousse cake above it covered with meringue. It looks good and it is good, but I don't need this cake particularly, so I'm going to take this shop off my list of great shops and demote them to excellent. They do have several excellent cakes though (as do some other excellent shops), but I don't like everything they have enough that I have to keep trying everything. The chocolate shops have the advantage there, at least with me. The good news, then, is that I only have six great shops left that I need to thoroughly explore (until they disappoint me too often), and then I can finally go back to the great cakes I've found from whatever shop and start comparing them to each other to see which ones I really like.

On the running front, I did my faster speed today rather than tomorrow because it was convenient for my cake plan. I did 8 min at 7-8 min/km, in 4 2-min blocks separated by 1 min walking, and I did 2 km at 6'10'' to 7'/km in six 300- or 400-meter blocks with 100 or 125 meters walking in between. The faster speed was more natural, but I'm working on running long-distance style, leaning forward to fall and catching myself rather than pulling or pushing myself with my leg muscles, and it's not easy to do well, such as without messing up my knees. Didn't have trouble keeping up the pace for that kind of distance, but it was starting to have an impact (so to speak) by the end. Still have 4 km at the slowest pace before I set next week's goals. I'm busy part of the weekend, so I'll have to get right into it Wednesday and Thursday.

Chocolate Chic [Closed shop]]: Tarte aux Figues

Only 3 km today, 2 min running/1 min walking, but given the heat and the closeness of the shop, it was enough. I've still got 7 km more for Monday and Tuesday, which is about right. No problems with my left leg. I'm thinking (since Friday at work) that my computer use is what's hurting my left arm (enough to affect running), so I've been giving it more support and writing less.

I got the Tarte aux Figues (I think: one problem with trying to figure out the French name from phonetic Japanese is the silent letters and my shallow knowledge of French) for 561. The tart base was okay, but the figs were tougher than I expected and all I could taste was cinnamon. It was only okay, so I'm taking them off my list of potentially excellent shops. Neither of the ones I liked before were in the shop now, although that might be more of a matter of season than that they had special ones at Isetan.

Worked on my praliné cake. Made the cake biscuit again, which came out too thin, so I had a lot of burnt part to throw away (well, break off and eat), thawed the last, pretty bad attempt at the creme brulée praliné buttercream (got some crystals in it, but the smooth part tastes really good), and made some caramel-favored syrup (by caramelizing sugar, adding boiling water, and then adding an equal part of what I think the recipe calls 30 deg syrup, which just means sugar fully dissolved in water at 4:3). The actually recipe uses the syrup on various layers with different fillings, but I just put it on a side by itself and alternated with cake with the buttercream. Very good (after chilling, so the buttercream didn't just squish out). Still three more fillings to work on, as well as getting the actually biscuit consistent and the buttercream smooth.

Paris S'éveille, Savarin

Took too long a walk to Jiyugaoka and back (especially too long, because there was a lot of meandering from about Nakamekuro there Omotesando, ultimately to no purpose, but I got home okay).

The trip started out with running 2 min to walking 1 min, running 40 min total this time at what I think was a 7-8 min/km pace. In this heat, I don't need to run much faster than that, since I started about noon because I was busy in the morning.

The cake was Savarin, because I've had most of their regular cakes, and anyway this actually sounded okay for me today. As anywhere, they careful warned me that there was a lot of alcohol in it. I've yet to say "I hope so", I just tell them that it's okay. This was 600 yen. It's pretty big, maybe 10 cm across, and was quite fine. Obviously, there seems to be whipped cream on top with almond slices and I'm not sure what, some sort of dried fruit, as well as cake well soaked in sugar and rum, and I'm not sure whether there is a little custard on the bottom or it was just whipped cream had that ended up on the bottom and picked up some rum on the way that stained it a little brown. It's still not my favorite cake, but this seemed to be excellent as Savarin go and I don't regret getting it instead of something else.