Cake-off: Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine over Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille

Thursday (so no cake since Sunday), I went for a long walk with a little running for lights and downhill, enough to arrive in about 110 minutes, even with with the lights I didn't beat. I was afraid that it would be three hours, so it wasn't as far as I thought and I wasn't as slow as the beginning implied. The goal was a cake-off, with the primary being Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine, a classic. I started a little after 8am, thinking they would open at 9am (based on their not up-to-date homepage), but arriving at 9:55 am, they were closed and I was first in line, arriving just ahead of the second person. I got my cake, no problem. Would have been nice if they had had one of two other great cakes not recently in the line-up, but I wasn't expecting them. I took the train back to Isetan and got Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille their standard tart. Very different in size and in price, though the larger is cheaper by weight. Tarte Infiniment Vanille remains a great vanilla cake, but the variation and bitterness of the Marjolaine brings me to give the classic the win. I should say this was a 5th round for two cakes with only one loss each going in. I have have two more likely available cakes left in that group, which I plan to hit this weekend, after which I'll have to expand the competition to include two-and-two cakes. Haven't had as many new great cakes or returned great cakes this year, so I'm whipping through the planned list rather quickly. I'll put ABVT down for a backup visit this weekend if Paris S. doesn't come through with new cakes, though I'll probably also pick up something from the main Dalloyau in that case, taking care of two shops in one neighborhood visit.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Théatre over Au Bon Vieux Temps's Marjolaine

Saturday morning was rain, so I went for a walk to Jiyuugaoka for cake-off cake. I used a compact umbrella, but it didn't stop before I got cake, so I kept using it. At Paris S'éveille, I got their Théatre. Didn't look like they were open for eat-in under current conditions, but that was okay. No wait (unlike when I looked in there Sunday afternoon). From there, it's not such a long walk to Au Bon Vieux Temps, where I got their Marjolaine, a classic. These are both three time winners in a fourth-round cake off, though three wins isn't really so much, so it might be more chance than anything, though they've definitely proved themselves as great. It was hard to decide between these until the last couple bites, and then it was definitely the multiple textures and chocolates of Théatre: it was melty from the beginning, but actually that turned out to not be bad. Seems like you want to eat this on the edge of collapsing. No big shop that PS is dominates, as this is the second of only three 4-time winners so far and they have the most three-to-one cakes as well, though I'm not sure how many of those are in the line-up right now.

Akito, Marjolaine and Saint-Marc

Friday, I got two cakes to go for two from Akito. Actually, I had misunderstood where I was supposed to go for cakes, but I had been here once before the cake was at least good. This time I got to classics, Saint-Marc and Marjolaine. Or at least, I expected these to be classics (or maybe they are and I've been eating the modern improvements), but the Saint-Marc had really thick sponge layers (more sponge than cream), which I could never imagine as an improvement. it wasn't bad, just the diluted the taste of the cake from somewhat subtle to completely bland, so I can't say this was more than okay.

I'm not sure what was going on with the Marjolaine, which broke into dry pieces when cut and didn't have much texture, like there was no egg white in the biscuit, maybe; something seemed weird, anyway. Now I'm going to have to get abvt's version to remember what can be great about a marjolaine. Also only okay.

I assume that these were exactly as designed and I just don't like the style of cakes so much, but either way I need to stay away from this place, I guess.

Cake-off: Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine over Dalloyau's Croquant Fraise

It was a busy day. First, I ran to Jiyuuoka and got my favorite (still available) cake from Dalloyau, Croquant Fraise, and then continued two more stations distance and got Marjolaine from Au Bon Vieux Temps to have a third-round cake-off with two undefeated cakes. I'm not going to get through all the third rounds this year, I think, so I'm prioritizing to at least staying caught up, in terms of month, on the top winners. Next week I can do a pair one-and-one shops for August cakes.

I came back by train and had a half-lunch before going out by bicycle to try to learn what had been the Daita--Daizawa--Hatagaya--Kamiyama-chou--Kitazawa--Komaba--Motoyoyogi-chou--Nishihara--Oohara--Ooyama-chou--Shouto--Tomigaya--Uehara loop when I ran it, but might need a name change when I finish renewing it. I've had to split off about one third of it as separate loops, as I add shops or notice inconsistencies. In 3 hours, I could do about half, checking out new shops or routes and trying to follow the old route, which I've never known. I may never get this loop, so I'll probably alternate with other more reasonable loops.

The result of the cake-off was that Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine is perhaps a perfectly executed traditional cake that is nutty, creamy, and not too sweet. I'm less excited about other traditional cakes, but this was is rich and flavorful enough to satisfy me. The Croquant Fraise lost some of its croquant, in that the crunch decoration wilted over time (it should be sticking up behind the strawberry). Seven hours is a long time to wait, but then sell it over a longer period of time. I'm now trying to adjust my handling to un-box cakes when I get them home. The drawer I put them is much smaller than their regular showcase but should be better than just the box. Sorry Dalloyau. I'll try to treat you better next year. (They still have a non-baked cheesecake in line for a third-round, but it lost the first two rounds and I wouldn't surprised if I drop it from the greats list after the next round.)

In the evening, I went out to do neighborhood run down in the Azabu area again. Note sure whether I was wrong about Friday and this was the night I got the Azabu-Dai--Azabu-Mamiana-chou--Higashi-Azabu loop clockwise or what the deal was. I can't think how I would mess it up once, but I'm missing a try somewhere. As I wrote for Friday, the next loop south is still under construction, so even if I got it correct (which I think I did), the course itself was wrong, so no advancement. Southwest of that is the Minami-Azabu west loop, since is a little over 3 km, but I really don't know that one, so I didn't even try to do it without consulting the map. It seems to leave out a correct I thought I had already made to avoid a traffic light, so I adjusted it, but then found a bakery cafe in a hotel, so I adjust it again. Also, there is a tiny path of the main road that looking down it doesn't really resolve whether it is correct to go back a little green space squeezed between apartment buildings.

I went through a lot of Calorie Mate packets (800 kcal worth). I'd like to eat better things or lose a little more weight, but after 1 hour running, I need some energy to keep my immune system sharp, so I watch my time and take care of myself.

Cake-off: Au Bon Vieux Temps's Marjolaine over Paris S'éveille's Giverny,

Just for the record, I went out Saturday night, before the rain got bad, for 40 minutes of running on the local neighborhood course. That was enough to revisit my southwest Shinjuku loop and the northern part of Sendagaya, so I can focus on central Sendagaya when I go out again. I think I'm going to try to revisit just at least the already mapped neighborhood course inside the Yamanote Line before I revisit though further out or work on new routes further out, though I've some new spots inside Yamanote Line that I overlooked previously or were cut off due to construction before that I'd like to do sooner rather than later.  It's going to take awhile, though, since I'm usually more interesting in running for cake.

Sunday morning, I ran to Todoroki in Setagawa to visit Au Bon Vieux Temps and get their Marjolaine for a cake-off. The run was 89 minutes, though I didn't use the most efficient route. That was about the limit for how far I felt ready to run this weekend, especially since then I had a two-station walk back to Paris S'éveille in Jiyuugaoka to get Giverny and then take the train back home. I've built up enough distance now to get to most shops that I want to reach for weekdays, so I should start doing some interval work to build up my strength so I can go at least a little faster.

As a cake-off, the Marjolaine was much stronger than I remembered and the caramelized to the point of almost a burnt taste really made it hard to appreciate the Ginvery. Perhaps I should have switched from comparing bites to clearing my palate more and figuring out what was great about the Ginvery, because its taste combination wasn't really working for me this time. I think any fruity cake would have trouble against the Marjolaine, so I should probably be careful with both cakes next time. As it is, I have to give the Marjolaine the win and mark the Ginvery as potentially not great. This was a second round of first-round winners, so the Ginvery isn't going to get booted from the great list for one poor performance. In a sense, this is revenge by Au Bon Vieux Temps for Ginvery's first-round win over its Chocolate Framboise. However, if the third round comes around next year, PS already has three double winners and two more possibles to ABVT's only one, so no reason to feel sorry for them. Now I need to use a weekend/holiday to visit ABVT again and try a new cake.

Cake-off: ABVT's Marjolaine over L'Abricotier's Le Piemont

Did a cake-off despite the heat warnings, but left very early. The cake was from Au Bon Vieux Temps, which opens at 9 am, thankfully. They do not have everything ready that early, but their Marjolaine was, so that worked out well (another I'll want to get to some time soon was not ready, so maybe I'll go a little later that day). Strangely, I was hottest around 8:30, but more on that later. Running was about 12 km at 9 km/h.

The primary great cake whose turn had come for a cake-off review was Le Piemont from L'Abricotier. I arrived close enough to opening time that nothing seemed to be sold out and I got home before noon despite not using the nearest station (which is a less convenient line for me). This run too felt less hot than late in my early morning, but when I checked the weather station at home, it was a few degrees hotter than when I had started; it might have increased while I was on the train, but probably not that much. Some of it was humidity that burned off, maybe (at least, I often have the same sensation running early in the morning), but I suspect it's more that my body adjusts (if it had been sunny, that would have been more difficult). The mystery is whether my body really cools itself down or just I become insensitive to the heat, but if anything, I increase my water intake over time. I should keep in mind, though, that I might not be able to trust my sense of the heat and still make sure that I drink enough any limit my running during high heat. But no symptoms at all suggesting anything like overexposure to heat, so I think my running plan was sound. The late morning runs was another 10 km (by the time I got to my preferred station for the return) but still closest to 9 km/h, despite walking in the underground from Isetan at the intersection of Meiji-dori and Shinjuku-dori to Yasukuni-dori and the Yamanote Line underpass (it's not that less hot underground, but no stop lights and a lot fewer people, so it might not actually be any slower).

Both of these cakes were great and very similar in ingredients, being nutty and a little (relatively) chocolaty. The Marjolaine has the coarser crunchier texture and caramel, whereas Le Piemont is mostly smooth with some biscuits for texture. It was very difficult to decide, but I need to, so I'm siding with the stronger caramel flavor of the Marjolaine. I seems to have some bias for certain iconic French cakes.

La Candeur: Marjolaine

Had a long run today, and there are many mistakes to report, so I'll get to it.

First step was to get to Aigre-Douce to look for previously blogged great cakes. Not surprisingly, now is not the season for fresh raspberries, which was the cake I was looking for, although they did have the salt caramel tart that I liked. My route deviated from the plan on the initial roads and then I ran into trouble where Meiji Avenue goes under Mejiro Avenue, as I did not find the stairs that Google says are there (actually, I did not remember where Google said there were stairs, but the only ones I saw to use were on the wrong side, so I should have stayed over there, which was in the shade). I ended up with an extra 400 m. Problem is, to stay on budget, besides not adding distance, I needed to keep the outbound to 10 km/h and this about 6 km stretch ended up 11 km/h, which  I did not even realize, so double penalty there.

At Aigre-Douce, to power my next stretch, I got their bostock for 280 yen. This was definitely good. It seemed lemony, though maybe I was misinterpreting almond liquor or something.

Next 14 km was to Yu Sasage, and this time I stuck to the plan. I was only slightly slower then the first strech, but this brought me within the 10 km/h range. This time, neither of their great cakes that I've had were available, probably because it is the wrong season. I should have bought another snack there so I wouldn't be so hungry that I ate my cake at the actual target for cake. Got a photo, though.

First time to La Candeur, so got a little confused at the first turn (plus, I couldn't remember the details of the plan, so I took the main road south after rejoining Route 20). Seems like a nice shop, and very new looking. The selection was nice. I went with a traditional cake, Marjolaine, which was perhaps a mistake, but I'm too much a slave to the classics.

As I said above, I almost immediately gave into temptation and ate it at a park. This was the wrong temperature for this cake, which, based on the fact that two of the filling layers are whipped cream, should be eaten about 10 degC (which was the ambient temperature, but it would have taken a while to reach that, and I've already said that I was not patient). Anyway, I've made this cake myself, and this seemed to be exactly by the book and taste about how I would expect. So it was definitely good, although, as chocolate, chocolate whipped cream never works well for me, so again, this was perhaps a bad choice. It did make me think about making this cake again, but I don't really need this shop's (but not because it's worse), so that's not an indicate that it's excellent. Too many Tokyo shops to give them a second chance, unless they visit Isetan, in which case I should.

Back (about 14 km) was supposed to be 9 km/h, to stay in budget, and I was definitely slower, but was still in the 10 km/h range, which was a bigger deal the being fast and long on the first stage, so I'm over my running budget by 3% now, though since I only get to expand it every couple weeks, that's not unreasonable (my expansion pace is 10%/week, but only 10% of what I actually ran for one week starting two weeks previously, so it's easily interrupted). My raw distance the last 7 days was 90.8 km and the 12 km/h equivalent (what I actually use in my budget) was 80.7 km. I won't have a lot of running budget for the next block of weekdays, since the budget won't get upped until next Sunday and this weekend is taking up the majority of the current budget. Still, I can plan out a couple training runs, one second visit, and one new shop for Tuesday through Friday so I'm fine. Might run early Saturday, before my first appointment, but not enough for my budget to matter, since I'm busy that weekend. Tomorrow I'll rest, but get some bread.

With that all planned out, now I need to figure out where I need to go to research great cakes for comparison in two weeks so I can start figuring that week's schedule.

Au Bon Vieux Temps: Marjolaine

Did a round trip to Au Bon Vieux Temps in Oyamadai (well, Todoroki, actually, but the nearest station is Oyamadai Station, also in Todoroki but next to Oyamadai, so let's go by that): 25 km. Kept up a good pace, definitely 6+ km/h and not that much slower coming back. Happily, my feet didn't turn red, unlike the big walk last Thursday, so I did something right. Not so sure about my knees yet, crossing my fingers, but I plan to rest tomorrow anyway.

Got the Marjolaine, for, I forget how much, around 500 yen, anyway. 496 yen? They keep their regular individual cakes small, more than do the big international brands, not high priced, unlike their frozen deserts. This was a great cake, and the best Marjolaine that I've had, I think. Not sure whether they made Japonaisemasse as the biscuit, as it is not baked that dark, but it's hazelnut dark and tastes right. They went with powered sugar on top and included a layer nut slivers in the creme praline. The ganache layer is pretty thin, but seems a good choice for keeping the chocolate from taking over from the praline.

Finally, a near-great shop lives up to its designation, so I'll give it a new color on the map and mark it and other ones as such when it's convenient. Not sure when I'll get back to this shop, as it's a good distance, but if the weather ever clears up (typhoons keep bring in rain), I can take the bicycle out for more trips to these farther ones.

Saturday evening: 15+ km to Sourire

The recipe that's been looking at is a Marjolaine, so I Googled the name and thought I'd try one. It showed up at Sourire, which I've been to a couple times and gotten a tart and maybe cheese cake, so never really regular cake, for whatever reason. They are open until 8 pm and I can get there in an hour, so I should consider them for longer runs, which is what I did and tried out the new watch (but used the old shoes). I did alternating 1 minute intervals (pausing the timer where necessary at stoplights) and managed 10. I had my usual problem with my left foot, though: when I run hard, I apparently don't run well and do some damage. I can run 40+ km without problems (because I never run that hard) of that sort, but a few hard intervals are a problem. I may need to see a professional and get some running advice.

Added Sourire (as well as others for later posts), which is near Youtenji, to the map. This picture I can post. Marjolaine is hazelnut Japonaismasse cake with praline cream and whipped cream layers. I was expecting a stronger taste from the cake part, since the hazelnut powder can be the most expensive part, but you can also get cheap stuff too, which I'm not sure works the say, so maybe that's what happened here. I would have expected the cake to be firmer and darker, although as far as firmer, you are supposed to add the filling and then give it a day for the moisture to soak into the cake part, so maybe this is just the way it's supposed to be. It was not bad. In fact, it was very good, although, as I said, it was not what I was expecting, and less whipped cream would have been better for me (which is maybe why I don't like Japanese [strawberry] short cake, which tends to be a pile of whipped cream with strawberries and little tasteless sponge cake inside). It was 480 yen, which is reasonable.