Cake-off: Lenôtre's Feuille d'Automne Rouge over Dalloyau's Trois Chocolat

Did a cake-off on Saturday with the newly returned Feuille d'Automne Rouge by Lenôtre and Dalloyau's Trois Chocolat, which is also a recent try (this having replaced the old similar chocolate cake). This was a second-round cake-off, with both having lost their first round. In this case, the Feuille d'Automne Rouge is definitely an unsubtle appeal to my sweet tooth, the same as the regular Feuille d'Automne, with chocolate cake and (straight baked) meringue inside a lot of decoration chocolate, only with raspberry sauce inside (I'm not sure whether the outside color reflects flavoring). That said, raspberry is a strong flavor, so this could go wrong, but it doesn't. Trois Chocolat is great in being an ideal light chocolate cake for me, but that isn't my first choice, so Lenôtre gets the win, though their cake is pretty messy to eat, as these types always are. 

Just running to Ginza to score both of those wasn't much, so after bring them back, I went out another two hours. I had used up my Odakyu coupons, but still had points that expire this year, so I used them to get a Pain au Chocolat from Pompadour, but it was just competently good.  I won't both to include the photo. I also got a first sample from a shop (really a food truck) in the Omotesando/Harajuku area. This is the Omote-Sando area exclusive Tokyo Honey and Pepper, I think, and is a cream cheese sandwich, basically mini cheesecake. It is excellent for what it is, but the pepper wasn't really in a noticeable amount. 

I also hit various café and have added quite a few places that I should try to cake from that are already territories included in at least the main sites part of my new neighborhood running courses (which I haven't been using much lately), so I want to visit them before deciding on the final neighborhood cake route and was out in an evening run that includes ones I forgot and visited Picard, which has a lot of expensive desserts on special for Christmas, which I don't really trust. Besides, I still have something from there I haven't tried in the freezer, so I should get around to baking that his Friday, maybe.

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Addiction over Dalloyau's Trois Chocolat

Not a lot to say. I did some neighborhood running in the afternoon, working on a new major park route as far as north Sendagaya. Not that many parks qualify, but it takes me to some neighborhoods that the cake shop route doesn't and takes a different path. In the evening, I ran to Ginza Mitsukoshi and despite the late hour managed to score cakes for a cake with the seasonal cake Addiction by Frédéric Cassel and the newly confirmed replacement standard chocolate cake from Dalloyau, Trois Chocolat. I say confirmed, because just because their own standard was great doesn't mean the new version has to be, but it was and I still felt it in this cake-off. However, Addiction is much more attractive, as well as being one of the few tropical cakes that I think is great (PS has one, but it's dropped off the line-up, despite being featured on the cover of a book). Unfortunately, I don't have another first-round winner to test Addiction against right now. I'll just have to hope for a couple more great cakes to come along. I do now have two standard line-up first-round losers, so if I get another seasonal cake like that, I'll be ready. Otherwise, I'll hold off for awhile before I revisit them, since they are both from this year.

Dalloyau, Trois Chocolat

Wednesday July 1st was the only weekend new cake, and even that was somewhat of a cheat. SA has been introducing a lot of new cakes that don't really match their classics and slipped enough that it was Dalloyau's chance to challenge, based on several good cakes from years ago, before who ever is in charge now. Anyway, Dalloyau got a new cake, which was Trois Chocolat. Now, other than the name and design on top, it might be exactly the same as the old L'Echiquier, which was great, though never won a cake-off in two rounds. This was also great, as a creamy milk chocolate cake. This is enough to put it at the top of the superb shops and maintain it's challenge of Sadaharu Aoki. Sneaky, but successful, and I'm happy to finally have a stable new great cake for cake-offs.

L'Authentique (of Saitama), Trois Chocolat and Mille-feuille

Friday and Saturday, I was busy (and there was a typhoon), so no cake.

Sunday I got cake, but not Tokyo cake: Saitama cake from Pâtisserie L'Authentique. It was cake for two, so only half a piece each, but both the Trois Chocolat and Mille-Feuille seemed excellent (though the mousse cake was warmer than I liked). 

Sunday night, I went running, with no bicycle, assist and did the updated Daikanyama-chou--Ebisunishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop counterclockwise, so that's settled as long as I don't look at it. Meanwhile, I'm doing a review of would neighborhood course from the root, so that's been sucking up time and I've found problems I've avoiding dealing with and some new sites close to home, but I'm working on it. One part is the Jinguumae 4 loop, which just goes around one block (though a full-sized block) to pass two shops.