Sadaharu Aoki, Saint-marc Praliné

Jogged to Sadaharu Aoki in Marunouchi for a new cake. Unfortunately, too late for the Baba (I hope I understood right, that they weren't just sold out, it had ended its run). Guess I was too slow. The next new thing is a variety pack of little pieces of other cakes, which doesn't interest me, unless someone visits and I want to give them a sample. However, the main shop in Marunouchi also has Saint-marc Praliné, which I had only had a little of before, not enough to give a fair evaluation.

I also went to Ginza Mitsukoshi to make sure JPH hadn't stuck something into their line-up (since I don't have another good source for information), which they hann't but I got the little Boulette au Marron from Dalloyau again because I thought I didn't give it a fair evaluation before. The problem before was that I put it on top of my cake box for the trip back. I didn't keep it there, but pastries need to be warm and I didn't do anything to heat it back up. I tried it again, eating it as I crossed back west underground to Hibiya Park (I continued walking the entire way home, as Sadaharu Aoki boxes are too unstable to run with, being basically just big enough and in the same shape as their cakes), and I'm willing to change the rating of it to excellent.

The Saint-marc Praliné is subtle, which saint-mark usually are, but they could have gone heavy with the praliné, but didn't. It pretty much took until the last bite to decide that was great (i.e., I definitely want to have it again). I wonder, though, whether there was maple in the top caramel layer or that was harmonization. In any case, happy to find another great cake, even if it's not one that I'll see much after it's gone (I'm not sure whether it will continue through December or March, but I think it started this year as the exclusive Marunouchi cake and will have a one-year run). I don't feel in a huge hurry to do a cake-off with it, so I'll stick with the Mont-Blanc from Ryoura for the next one, but I should get to it next month, if I can find another great cake to pair it against.

Cake-off: Sadaharu Aoki's Marron Fruits Rouges over Viron's Bonaparte

Sunday, for cake-off day, as the earliest great cake available for a second-round, I tried Viron's Bonaparte again, this time against something not another chocolate cake, Sadaharu Aoki's Marron Fruits Rouges, which was conveniently next in line, though it is available through November, so there was no hurry with it. I ran to Viron first and then ran carrying it north at least as far as Shinjuku Takashimiya, and then walked from there to Isetan to get the second cake and walked both home.

This time I had the Marron Fruits Rouges at my preferred temperature, and it made all the difference: definitely great cake. Again, the Bonaparte was not working for me, so I can't keep in among the great cakes. It was an early choice and from when I was more enthusiastic about Viron (though their Mille-Feuille is still definitely my favorite). These day, maybe I'm used to a moister cake. I wouldn't have minded some whipped cream on the Bonaparte, if I were ordering it in a cafe (which is not possible, since their cafes' serve different desserts than they sell in the bakery section).

In the afternoon, I went and checked the current line-up at Clair de Lune, which I should get cake from soon (they are third to sixth in priority, in no particular order). Since the previous pastry I got there was excellent, and I didn't get any during the last week, I got their Boulette au Marron and ate it within a kilometer (though I arrived by an unnecessary detour) at a park. I've never had this seasonal pastry from anywhere, I think, though I'm seeing everywhere now, it being the season. This is pastry around a baked (I think) chestnut, but also there is marzipan inside, which makes a differences, as far as balancing. Again, I don't have much comparison, but this seemed great to me. I also got a small bag of chocolate almonds as service, which I've saving to share, and I could have gotten a flower, but passed. It's their 5th year anniversary.

I also checked out L'abbricotier and Jun Honma, again to verify their lineups, again. This time I made proper notes, so I can move on the checking other places. I did go to check out a new loop in Honmachi, Shibuya-ku, and found that I was mistaken about there being an underpass to cross back over Yamanote-dori Ave., so I was wrong about being able to reach the north part of Yoyogi by curling the course back east. I can just barely get into Nishi-Shinjuku, where there is not actually anything I need to reach. At least I found a crosswalk with a signal for getting to Tokyo Opera City, where there's a bakery cafe.