Éclat des Jours, Tarte Tatin

Thursday, I took the afternoon off and got back to Éclat des Jours to get a new cake to balance a cake-off win (I'm more behind on ABVT, but they open at 9am and would not likely have anything new by the time I could get there). Managed to get the last of the only cake new to me from there, Tarte Tatin. It was a long run there, as I went around the imperial grounds to the north so I could swing by the Palace Hotel. Going back, I didn't run, to protect my cake, but I did walk as far as Ginza Mitsukoshi, to check out the new cakes at FC, since they aren't posting about this month yet, before catching the train back, so it took more than 3 hours total. I'll confess that I also got high-calorie bread at Éclat des Jours, which I failed to stop myself from eating all of, so it probably wasn't a successful day as far as getting my weight back down. Anyway, the tatin was quite nice. I'm making some allowance for the simplicity and my appreciation of the shop, but it was definitely one of the better tatins that I've had and I enjoyed it, so it should be fair to say that it was excellent.

Éclat des Jours, Chou à la Crème

The goal today was to bring the exceptional shops up to 16 net cakes, though Éclat des Jours has manged 9 cake-off wins, so this was actually number 25. I went with the Chou à la Crème. These are the kind with nuts, though I think they still called just Chou à la Crème, or some close variation. They are half the price of a cake, so I got two to get a fair sample, though it was more than I needed for that. I ran most of the way, being a little lazy, and there being a good number of lights and me setting off reasonably early. Definitely good and certainly comparable to those of other high-quality shops.

Éclat des Jours, Passion Chocolat

The final cake of last Saturday was a second cake from Éclat des Jours, as it comes time to lift the exceptional shops up to 16 net cakes (plus cake-off wins). However, since Éclat des Jours won the cake-off, this was the reward and I still need that next cake, though maybe I'll let the Toshi Yoroizuka go first.

Taking a break from running through the fruit tarts (though there might only be a mixed tart left), I got a cake new to the line-up, as well as me, Passion Chocolat. As one would expect, this is passion fruit and white chocolate, an excellent cake.

 

Cake-off: Éclat des Jours' Tartelette Mûre over Jean-Paul Hévin's Matcha Marron

I got all my weekend cakes in on Saturday, despite the typhoon-induced rain, or maybe because of it. I started off by walking to Éclat des Jours out in Koutou-ku to get Tartelette Mûre for a third-round cake-off and came back by train, stopping at Ginza Mitsukoshi to get Jean-Paul Hévin's Matcha Marron, both one-and-one great cakes.

These are both niche cakes, so hard to compare. In the end, I went with the more distinct, Tartelette Mûre. Matcha Marron is nice and has a distinct combinations of flavors (chestnut, powered green tea, chocolate, and rum) and the great construction of a JPH cake mousse cake, though there are several cakes like that, which I'm thankful full.

Haru: New York Cheesecake

Finally visiting new shops, after stopping at Éclat des Jours and getting a great pastry (sorry, rain, and I'm behind on cakes, so I'm giving up on chronicling pastries, but need more from EdJ), I hit nearby Haru in the same neighborhood. I saw them on television and new cheesecakes were his thing, but I expected more variety than I found. In the end, I just got the New York Cheesecake, which was definitely good, but not really worth going that far away. Still, just good will be enough for a second cake relatively soon from fine shops, though it will probably take at least a year to go through them all (since I'm not going to pause everything else while I do it, and the quite fine shops will need a fourth cake).

Éclat des Jours, Tartelette Fraise

At the same time as getting a cake for a cake-off, following covid rules of minimizing shopping trips, I also topped up Éclat des Jours after their last cake-off win by getting Tartelette Fraise, despite some new tempting non-tart cakes, which I also hope to sample soon. This was the same base as the great blackberry tart, though the top is different, besides the strawberries. Though in general I'm not that into strawberries, I could really respect these ones. I could also respect the shop for using strawberries that were not perfectly red. Definitely excellent. Think I've had all their tarts now except some sort of mixed fruit one. I'll probably hold off on that one to get to new cakes in the lineup. 

Éclat des Jours, Tartelette Mûre

Thursday Aug 27 (when I took a half-day off), I went out to Éclat des Jours for a new cake. I don't think they had any new regular cakes, so I continued working through their tart lineup, which is relatively large compared to other shops. Hadn't seen a reason for it until this one, but maybe just because I'm nostalgic for blackberries, I found this to be great, perhaps the best fruit tart I've had so far. Of course, great fruit is not enough and I also appreciate the cream (I think there is custard underneath) and the fairly substantial tart base.  

In blogger news, the edit for labels has finally evolved back to something that looks like the original easy-to-use form. 

Éclat des Jours, Shortcake Verrine

The other cake I got last Saturday (more than a week ago now) was the verrine version of their (strawberry) shortcake, which I had to search online to get an opinion about what it's called, though I was sure of the two words Shortcake Verrine, if not the order. I'll say that I've been slow to appreciate either shortcake or verrine and they still haven't risen to greatness in my opinion, but in this case, the combination works better than been than either on average (or this shop's own shortcake, as far as I can recall), which is probably why this is their signature item, not withstanding that I'm just getting to it now as a 21st cake. 

Their previous only good cake but them under threat from slipping from quite exceptional, but I gave them another cake due to winning a cake-off. This excellent cake doesn't reverse that, but it does raise the bar for the previously under-threat shop it replaces to now prove that it really is better, not just that it had fewer chances to disappoint me. We'll see. 

Éclat des Jours, Tropicot

Last Monday, besides the cake for the cake-off, I got one extra cake from Éclat des Jours, for efficiency in the era of virus, long work hours, and short store hours: Tropicot. This has been around for a relatively long time, though not as far back as the first visit. It's a mango, passion fruit, and banana tart, with some shredded coconut. I knew it wasn't really my thing, but I was running out of choices as a 20th cake, but it was their turn or a new cake as one of the quite exceptional shops, at least until this one, which was only good. Betting cakes from here and with tropical fruit coming up, so I didn't give up on either. For some reason, blogger has gone back to the old interface, now that I've figured out the new one. There's probably some way to toggle between them.

I realize, I should really get some pictures of things other than cakes, because there are actually a couple people besides me that read this blog. I'll see if I can come up with at least some shops or pictures of the returned crowds, with more masks than typically this time of year (it's getting too hot for my surgical masks, which I already don't run or bicycle with, but I have other options).

Éclat des Jours: Shortcake

Went in the rain by bicycle to Éclat des Jours. I could have used a little warmer clothes, but was fine. I went early for the selection, but decided on a standard cake that I had been avoiding, their Shortcake. This cake is on the top row with the cream puffs and is only 400 yen before tax (not that other cakes are that expensive), so it's getting special treatment, maybe as a staple of Japanese cake shops. Anyway, though shortcake can be among the most expensive cakes, due to using premium fruits, this cake was trying for that. Certainly, the strawberry seemed ordinary, which is fine. It was still a good cake and I'm happy to be able to enjoy it.

Only one more of the accessible (i.e., not Ryoco) quite exceptional shops needs a cake, Toshi Yoroizuka, though new priority cakes should become available next week, so I might not get to it for a couple weeks, though I don't know yet what I'll do Saturday. I'm actually hoping Sadaharu Aoki premiers the next season of cakes early. Even with the above bicycling (1.5 hours), I went out in the evening again by bicycle down to the Ebisu area and made use of a bike parking area for the first time and ran (or tried to run) the local loops. Was able to do the revised Ebisu-Nishi loop clockwise this time and finished confirming the Ebisu-Minami and Ebisu 1 loops, failed on the Ebisu 4 loop. I hope to at least finished off the Ebisu-Nishi loop Friday before so trying the next loop in order, the revised Daita-... loop, Saturday.

Éclat des Jours, Simoné

Made my second attempt on the Daita-... loop and got about a third of the way before I failed. I needed to go straight, squeezing past the parked van, even though the main road turned. This is the second time that I mistook when to enter a back alley. While verifying what I should do, I stopped at Main Mano and got their Pain au Chocolat. I'll say it was excellent, but note that the chocolate was what I more typically find in Pain au Chocolat, and not my favorite. On the other hand, the sliced almonds are a significant positive feature.

I ran most of the way home and felt that a 2+ hour run was enough. After a half-lunch, I went by bicycle to Éclat des Jours again, in response to their cake-off win, and got a new cake, Simoné, which is pistachio mousseline on a strawberry crust with fresh raspberries on top. A definitely excellent cake. I do have a complaint: I gave them an insulated bag to put the cake in, and they included their own bag anyway. (I protects the box, but really, does it need it?)

Éclat des Jours, Macaron Anana

I was thinking that I owed Éclat des Jours for a cake-off win, but apparently not, just I was putting them off because they're at the bottom of the quite exceptional shop list. No matter: under the new system, they were above all the shops in the exceptional shop list. To get a better selection of a new cake, I wanted to go on a weekend, and I did get something new, the Macaron Anana. It's as named, although the macaron is airy, which may be a thing in Tokyo shops now, and pineapple is different, though tropical fruit appear in cakes in the summer. It was good, but the design and flavors didn't stand out as something I wanted again.

This was about a 11 km one-way, bring the cake back by train. I did feel a need to test a new limit of walking again today, though I did incrementally increase the running bit to four 4-min intervals, plus around a few intersections. So far so good. Next walk and run will probably be Tuesday. I have to decide whether to finally visit Origines Chocolat for new cake or see whether Michalak at Omotesando still has the clam-shell type "cake" that disappeared from Isetan recently (the pistachio tart and milk chocolate tart have also disappeared, replaced by two more jar sweets, which I'm not willing to accept as comparable to cake, though I don't mind, since I've had the tarts and I agree that they were the least interesting of the cakes). Also today, I noticed a new bakery within the scope of the neighborhood running course out in Kojimachi, though I'm going to need to add another single-block loop to include it. It's pretty far out in the periphery, so I'll put off adding the loop until I get around to reviewing the adjacent loop.

Éclat des Jours, Palet de Chocolat Spicy

Took a half-day off and ran to Éclat des Jours. Fortunately, the rain came earlier than predicted today, so it was just wet by the time I was running. Today, this time imperial movements closed off sidewalks north from Hibiya Park, but I could go straight there, so no problem, though I would have turned if I could have, just because the light was red going straight. I stopped on the way at Toshi Yoroizuka and verified that they still have Cassis, which I'd like to get this weekend. At Éclat des Jours, I decided to go with the new thing, Palet de Chocolat Spicy (I think they wrote "Palait", so this is my spelling, which matches the official Japanese-spelled pronunciation). This is a simple chocolate mousse cake made up of a flour-less chocolate biscuit, chocolate mousse, and apricot coulis (thick sauce) to show off The Cacao Professionals Spicy Fruit (Meiji The Cacao), which, as the name implies, they don't sell to just ordinary folks, apparently. Anyway, it was excellent.

Éclat des Jours: Safari

Éclat des Jours won the last cake-off, so I wanted to try a new cake from there, but I'm not ready to run that far or fast enough to arrive by closing time, so I went by bicycle. Today got up to 38 deg, so it was still plenty hot after work, but by bicycle was fine and was much better than under the sun Saturday morning. I got Safari this time, which I've seen before but hadn't tried. This is passion fruit and a little banana. It was good and I enjoyed it, but banana makes it sort of everyday (though I have cake most days), even though I approve of this sort of cake with a kind of outer shell.

More importantly, I noticed that their great rum raisin cake is back, just it's gone square from rectangular, so I'll probably have it in a second-round cake-off before too long.

Éclat des Jours: M. Cola

Was busy in the morning, which included shopping for my next computer. (Got a two-week extension on the loaner, though still not ready to order and delivery could take 3 weeks). Still cycling to see how much that improves the right foot. Lie Wednesday, didn't have a high priority place that I couldn't get to on a weekday and also didn't just get cake from in the last week (Ryoura), so went with the highest priority weekend target, which was Éclat des Jours, where I got M. Cola, which is apparently a summer thing, since I found a one-year all reference to it by Instagram's jum.2525 (in Japanese), though with different decoration bits, because the reading conditions for tiny handwritten cards at calf level behind glass in Japanese with lots of phonetic loan words (often mostly French, though English is common) is not that great, even if you aren't tired from exercising.

Despite the name, there does not seem to be any cola in this, which is consistent with the Japanese phonetics, which is a short (in the Japanese sense) rather than long "o". What it does have milk chocolate and orange and mango (what I didn't identify by myself--maybe that's the "M.") gelatin on a bottom of puffed rice layer. I'm hoping the name didn't put me off too much, but I didn't find it too exciting. I prefer more and darker chocolate and less fruit, though of course it depends on the fruit. I can still call this good, but they're slipped further from the top of the Quite Excellent shop pack.

Éclat des Jours: Tendresse

Today, I cycled over to Touyou and visited Éclat des Jours and got a new cake (so no more comments from me for awhile about how their line-up doesn't vary; still a couple cake cakes that I would like, a couple tarts, and now I'm willing try their verrine). This is white chocolate and orange. Cream/mousse sandwiched between biscuit/sponge is kept together by a solid coating. Definitely excellent.

Éclat des Jours: Tartelette Framboise

Last Sunday, I hit my top priority (unless Ryoco returns to regular business) by cycling out to Éclat des Jours and got their Tartelette Framboise, working my way through their fresh tarts. This one was exceptional for its type, having big, surprisingly moist raspberries. The center of the tart was built up with some raspberry gelatin (under the visible cream), which wouldn't sound like a good idea to me, but was. Excellent cake.

This shop seemingly hasn't given up on overtaking Bien-Etre to become the replacement for Toshi Yoroizuka as a Superb (top 4 to 7) shop, though it's going to be tough with their lack of variety (though at least it's a big base line-up). Still two more tarts to go, I think, and I still haven't had the signature cake of the shop (because it's strawberry shortcake). Unfortunately, this month's seasonal cake has coffee, which is a hopeless cause with me.

Éclat des Jours: Baked Cheesecake

As planned, I did a cycling visit to Éclat des Jours Monday, but they did not have the expected cake (it seemed overly summery, so I'm surprised that it lasted through November). Instead, I got the Baked Cheesecake. I had low expectations, but it was great, an experience I've had with other cakes of theirs. It was fruity, with some citrus taste but obviously some other fruit adding flavor, like cassis or blueberry. I'll have to go back to find out, as I didn't visually examine it that closely enough or read the card closely (I didn't expect to want to know much beyond baked cheesecake). It makes me think of the more decadent American style rather than the types I usually get Fred Cassel or Pierre Hermé, so I assume that means lots more sugar. It's somehow richer and more airy at the same time. I'll have to update this when I go back to get this for a cake-off, though that probably won't be until next year.

Tuesday, I did actual running for the first time since last Thursday (though I did hiking in the hills Saturday and less vigorously Sunday. I went to P. Shima to get the first pastry for this week. They close at 7 pm, so I had to rush: 11 km/h there and 10 km/h back, though it's only about 2 km each way. I followed this up by filling up the hour with running over the west Yotsuya neighborhood course, which is essentially the first one, or at least one endpoint of the current string of 7 that I've tentatively learned. I didn't do all of it, just enough to see whether I remembered it. I'll avoid reviewing the map before I go again and finish from where I left off, but I was okay on main outer loop, though I think I'm going to drop a small bit that swings through an alley that just for the sake of minimizing overlap in the course, because it's not lit well enough at night and I'm sure nobody wants me back there anyway. I might reform other parts, based on my more recent philosopher of course making, though I'll wait until I complete it. I know there's a big loop at the other end of the course that could be avoided if I was willing to double back or overlap more.

The pastry was a Pain au Chocolat, which was great, even though it is hard to say that there was anything special about it except that it was exactly what I wanted. I'll work my way up to one-on-one comparisons, but I'm not ready to do pastry-offs yet.

(Sat.) Éclat des Jours: Tarte Citron

Yesterday, I went out by bicycle and first again went to Éclat des Jours in response to their cake-off win. Unfortunately, they don't add new cakes very frequently, so it the pretty much the same old stuff that I've already had 9 cakes from. However, I've only had one of their several tarts, so I went with Tarte Citron. This is a little tough to evaluate, because though I like this type of tart, my interest in fruit tarts is still limited. This one was definitely good, and after long deliberation, I decided that it probably should qualify as excellent, so I'm going with that, which ups their numerical rating somewhat. Maybe I'll try the pistachio and cherry with coconut cream éclair next time. I ate it outside in the nearby park. Notice that they gave me a completely unnecessary spoon-like utensil. Of course, some tarts do break apart when cut or bit into, but this one could be eaten with one's hands (plus, I have extra utensils that I carry for the very reason that places sometimes give you things without asking).

Just because it's a noticeable landmark along the way, I took a picture of the "Wise Owl Hostels". I'm a little far away from it, but the lamppost tends to block letters of the sign from the next nearer corner.

The rest of the day was cycling to Jiyuugaoka, then Youga, and then in a sharp >-shaped course back to a little north of Youga (I was making good distance, so I didn't stop to check my map to see why I wasn't arriving somewhere familiar faster). The only useful information I got was that Bigarreaux finally has their specialty Le Plaisir in their line-up so that I can do a cake-off with it. It's probably also not a coincidence that they visit Isetan again from this coming Wednesday, so I think I'll do a midweek Cake-off this week with it and a JPH cake (I've got four of them available that I haven't done yet) and then maybe use the weekend to head somewhere new. There may also be some pseudo-new shops this month, as I get cakes from shops on my neighborhood map that I've never actually posted on, which I just did with Nana Gâteaux, which I had not known existed. Both Joshi+ and Sweet Sonobe seem to be off on posting about cakes, so all I've got is Isetan's visiting shops for info on new cake shops, and they tend to be the same old places.

Cake-off: Éclat des Jours's Rhum Raisin over Hidemi Sugino's Améthyste

Rain front coming through, but it slowed down, so I could get out before it. I'm hoping it will speed up again, so I can go out tomorrow afternoon, though there's the next typhoon coming in behind. Ran 15+ km total at 9+ km/h average, first to Éclat des Jours, which was a little late opening (there were a few people waiting ahead of me, but not more than there were staff inside, so no problem) to get their Rhum Raisin, and then to Hidemi Sugino, where I arrived 15 min before opening and got in a long line. Lots of foreigners, like me, as the place is famous and maybe some of them don't know better (like I should have) than come here on a Saturday morning. It took me 1 hour to get cake, but maybe I could have gotten it faster if I had come earlier (to get at the front of the line) or later (to come after the line had diminished, though it did not seem to have at 11:45). I should have waited and done this when I had a day off, but I was hoping for only a 30 min wait. Well, it will probably be a couple years before I need to go back, and I won't be in such a hurry that I can't wait to do it during a personal holiday.

As you might guess from the above, Rhum Raisin won the cake-off. Améthyste was not bad but I wasn't feeling the greatness (maybe it was too cold) and the Rhum Raisin still was a nice flavor with a creaminess that I'm not sure I've had elsewhere. Haven't decided yet when I'll try to go for the follow-up cake. I had about run through the whole line-up of cakes available at the end of the day when I stopped making them a weekly thing, but I can get something other than fresh cake as follow-up for a cake-off if I don't find anything new when I go.