Éclat des Jours: Caramel Poire

It's hot, though my bigger problem running is still my sore backside (cycling Sunday apparently was not helpful, though not a problem at the time). Still, after the run, it feels much better, so it still seems to be a muscle issue and not something more serious. Not sure of my exact time going out, but the speed was very close to 9.5 km/h, but probably under. Overall the 21 km averaged on the low side of 9 km/h, which could have been worse. This was a run out to Éclat des Jours for a fifth cake, and I got Caramel Poire (486 yen), just based on it being next in line besides the one with coffee, even though it's not something I would expect to like.

It was about what I expected, though definitely good from the start: it's soft cream layers, gelatinous enough to say together, with a good deal of pear. In the end, though, I found myself thinking it was excellent. Still not a kind of cake that I'm very interested in, but I wouldn't mind having (though not planning to have) it again and it wouldn't be a waste of time to learn to make. Don't know why I'm so apparently biased for this place. Perhaps, it's the effort that goes into getting the cake or just that I eat the cake in the comfort of my home with tea after a lot of hard work.

Stopped by Viron on my way and learned that Mille-feuille is available in general (though sold out again), but I missed my chance for Fraise in May and now will have to wait until December. It's looking like the next cake-off will be a mille-feuille battle, which should keep the run relative short.

Chez Cima (Isetan): Caramel Poire

Can't tell whether my leg is better or the drugｓ work (which seems unlikely), but at least I am walking at a normal speed, even though it still hurts. Walking more on the left side and working out indoors has me worried about other physical problems, but so it goes.

At least I felt I could walk the extra distance to Isetan and back on my commute. I visited Chez Cima, which has a difficult selection for me and was not a priority, but under the circumstances, I'll take it. Ruled out the obvious chocolate, as it has coffee. The other chocolate looked overly light, and had cherries. In addition to a strawberry tart (which would probably be fine, but would not tell me much about their cake-making skill), mont-blanc, and standard (strawberry) short cake, they had another short-cake like cake with apricot and cherries again, so I went for the Caramel Poire, caramel and pear, even though I'm not thrilled by pear and often have trouble with caramel.

The Caramel Poire for 486 was excellent. The caramel was strong and not sweet, but ultimately I dealt with it and it was good, as was the pear. Clearly, they know what they are doing. I'd like to visit the main store next, which is not so far away (under normal circumstances) and maybe has a wider selection (their website does not really give any hints, though). Anyway, since the cake was excellent, I feel obligated to designate them as "worthy" on the map.