Cake-off: Toshi Yoroizuka's Cassis over Bien-être's Chocolat Cuit

Friday, I did a local run to add the Minami-Aoyama 3&4 loop, which requires using subway access stairs to cross the road. Since the area is completely surrounded by other neighborhood loops, I'm allowing it, though I think I'll keep expanding elsewhere without using the subway accesses for now. I'll need some more practice or that loop, but it's pretty simple, so it shouldn't take much. I stopped at Breadworks again, this time for a pastry. There aren't a lot of choices in that category, but they had a Whole Wheat Croissant. It was good, but definitely whole wheat while being a real pastry (not just ordinary bread shaped like a croissant), with flaky layers. Other options on this course are a chocolate place that isn't cheap, a couple cake shops, and a bakery café next to one of the subway entrances. I'm counting this run as a one-way neighborhood run, though I couldn't use the normal course, as they have the pedestrian bridges over Omotesandou blocked off at night to keep people from going up there to take photographs of the street. People are always doing that any time of the day and year, but now there is an illumination display along Omotesandou, so they could get dangerously crowded.

Saturday, was cake-off day. My morning appointment was canceled, but I didn't leave so early and collected half a dozen photos on the way for neighborhood sites leading to Pâtisserie l'abricotier (which could ultimately be on the course, if it ever extends that far). Unfortunately, even arriving 1 hour after opening was too soon by an hour to get what I wanted, so I need to go back at noon, maybe Sunday next weekend, though I've got some appointments that might make a cake-off difficult. So I used my back-up, Bien-être, which would be another 6 km, but I practiced some neighborhood loops (where I didn't need photographs), and it was farther. No trouble getting Chocolat Cuit. From there, I ran a little but mostly walked to Tokyo Midtown to get the main goal, Cassis from Toshi Yoroizuka. The walking was partially to project my cake but partially because my right foot wasn't so great (fine now). I haven't been having trouble when not running, and have gotten lax about stretching. I'll try to do better tonight and tomorrow. I came back by train with too cakes, though that still involved more than 1 km walking (since I wasn't willing to do transfers, especially not to different lines).

I'm happy to report that I definitely still think both these cakes are great. I couldn't say that one was better than the other eating them, so I'm giving the win to Toshi Yoroizuka, because its has the most fig of cakes in cake-offs and there are lots of versions of chocolate cake (though none like this one, so I could justify either). Another excuse is that Toshi Yoroizuka ranks lower, so it needs the support more.

Cake-off: Sadaharu Aoki's Saint-marc Praliné over Jean-Paul Hévin's Bergamot

Sugar Crunch from Danish Bar

No posts for a while because of no cake. Tuesday, I ran out to Bien-être where they told me there were no new cakes in the line-up this week. I wanted to practice the Kita-Aoyama--Jinguumae--Shibuya loop of my neighborhood course map, so for a snack, I tried the Danish Bar under the Jinguubashi (?) intersection, in the underground corridors for the Metro subway Harajuku Station. I got the Sugar Crunch, and it was definitely good, better than a donut and a mini cupcake I've gotten in the same area for 4 times and 2 times the price. I succeeded this time of the part of the course that I tried, but I failed on the Shibuya--Minami-Aoyama loop due to turning too early.

Having missed cake Tuesday, by Wednesday I had decided that I was going to do a cake-off Thursday, since I would be too business during the weekend (I had planned on Monday). The nearest new non-cake place I could hit then was SunnyHills Minami Aoyama Store, which fit with my plan to practice the recently modified course it was on, the Minami-Aoyama--Nishi-Azabu loop. I was successful in getting there before they closed at 7 p.m. It was my first time to go in and I found that on the first floor, they only sold the gift sets advertised online, not individual pineapple bars/cakes (and they have bottles of juice), so this really doesn't qualify as someplace to get a snack while jogging. A couple people were taken up to the second floor cafe, which surprised me, given how late it was, but anyway it looked a little too upscale for my state of dress (jogging stuff). Still, I would be interested in visiting the cafe sometime for tea-time for two.

However, I failed the Minami-Aoyama--Nishi-Azabu loop too (thought the correct place to turn might be farther ahead, but it's a long block), and then it turned out that the course itself was a failure, because of a traffic signal I hadn't known about. I've redone the map to loop past it and in the process SunnyHills is no longer on the course (despite the building being a distinctive landmark). For a snack, I stopped at the underground eating area below Omotesandou intersection, where I got an Egg Tart from Eggcellent Egg Tart, which has a quiche-type shell. It was definitely good. I did, at least, finally get the little Shibuya--Minami-Aoyama loop correct. On the way home, I also got some 100% rye bread from Breadworks, which is not pastry and also not in a neighborhood accessible from my course (can't reach it without a traffic signal), so no picture, but it was fine. I had it with low-sugar homemade jam and separately with olive oil.

Thursday morning, I was free, so I ran from about 8:45. After picking up a picture of the Yotsuya 3-choume Station Antendo bakery/cafe for the Samonchou loop, which I scouted but still missed the Garage Coffee shop, which has baked goods, supposedly, I went down to the northwest corner of the Akasaka-Azabudai-Roppongi-Toranomon loop and practiced it clockwise as far as United Church of Christ in Japan Akasaka Church, so including all the most recent south end. Also on the south end, out of order, since it's the first 13-level loop, I did a lap around the new Shibakouen--Toranomon loop without needing to check my map (it's basically one big block, though there is a walkway through the middle when I need shortcut). I didn't practice any of the other little 13-level loops coming from the Akasaka-Azabudai-Roppongi-Toranomon loop or finish it, because I ran out of time (10:05). I ran next to Ginza Mitsukoshi to get Jean-Paul Hévin's Bergamot and then (looping north to check out Viron and futilely going by the Marunouchi Building, where the foodcourt was not yet open) to get Sadaharu Aoki's Saint-marc Praliné. And I saw that I was correct about being wrong, that they did have their baba, so I need to get back there next Tuesday: if they don't have any left, I'll try to reserve one for Wednesday.

Finally to the cake-off: This time, the gelatinous layer on the top of the Bergamot bothered me a little, but there are several textures in it, so I should learn to live with it. Still, the mild Saint-marc Praliné seemed more deserving, so it gets the win. I'll probably try to get to second-rounds for both of them fairly soon, but the saint-marc has until the end of March and the Bergamot seems to be a replacement for the Bergam, so maybe it will stick around for a while. It's labeled as "new", not as "limited", at Ginza Mitsukoshi.