Musée du Chocolat Théobroma, Caramel Orange

The other cake the Sunday before last was the cake-off reward for Musée du Chocolat Théobrom's win. I went intending to get their version for Forest Noir, which I would generally avoid, as I can't expect cherry and chocolate to come out well, but their best cakes have been chocolate. However, I ended up getting a cake I hadn't seen previously, Caramel Orange. It ended up being more eastern European, though that just means east of France, as far as being heavy on almond biscuit. It was good, so I'm not disappointed, and I'm caught up with the quite fine shops that aren't tens of kilometers from central Tokyo, which are going to be a problem now that Isetan isn't rotating visiting cake shops on a weekly basis.

Sadaharu Aoki, Chou Truffle Caramel

Saturday afternoon, after going to Ginza to get a Pain au Chocolat from  from Camélia (which was definitely excellent, so they're my top priority on pastries, even if I'm not blogging pasties any more, due to lack of time), I stopped in at the Sadaharu Aoki main Tokyo shop in Marunouchi to see again whether they had a yearly shop exclusive yet for the new fiscal year that started in April. The website is still showing last year's. What they did have, and I don't know whether it is an exclusive, was Chou Truffle Caramel, so I got it. I'm pretty sure this is chocolate truffle, not the mushroom type, but I still haven't found anything online about it. It was good but traditional still seems to be best. It's been a while since I've had a new great cake them, so they they've slipped enough that Dalloyau, significantly behind them in number, deserves a visit for a new cake. I keep finding reasons to start hitting the merely fine shops.
 

Sadaharu Aoki, Tarte Caramel Framboise Pistache

I couldn't, or didn't resist getting more cakes during the week despite already being one ahead, though I did hold off until Wednesday. I'll catch up in a couple weeks, by which time I've finally start on the just fine shops, which have interesting points but will be something of a slog. Anyway, Sadaharu Aoki is a quite superb shop with not so many new cakes, so I got this one when it was available, still looking for a great tart from them. This is at the other end of their range, but still definitely good: Tarte Caramel Framboise Pistache. Under the pistachio cover is a fairly thick layer of fruit (and caramel, I think, which balances out the fruit well) sauce. 

Le Jardin Bleu, Tarte Chocolat Macadamia

Last Wednesday, for a third day in a row, I could get to a (now opening later) department store to get a cake from the current quite fine shop group. In this case, I wanted to get one of Le Jardin Bleu's cakes via Shinjuku Takashimaya, since the main shop is a long way away. Maybe because it is so far away (or because it was the end of the day, leaving only the least popular), I had only one choice, a fairly solid item that I imagine could be made far ahead. This is Tarte Chocolat Macadamia. The chocolate coating is fairly thick. The inside also has caramel, besides the macadamia nuts. So this is more like a candy bar than any typical cake, which is not a complaint. It was good, but that's probably not going to be enough to keep it in the quite fine group. 

Viron, Pomme Caramel

Thursday (sometime in December, as I just found this draft), I had the day off to prepare for a busy long weekend. In the morning, I had a hard-to-get-to shop lined up, but more cakes from Viron is a higher priority and I'm not sure how long cakes introduced at Christmas will stick around, so I went there first and got the Pomme Caramel. This is was definitely a nice cake, but apple is a pretty weak flavor in general and they choose not to go so heavy on the caramel as to drown it out, which I can respect, so while good and enjoyable, and of course high quality, it wasn't something particularly interesting to me.

Atsushi Hatae, Caramel Noix

Still way behind, The last cake from two weekends ago was a second cake from Atsushi Hatae, that was nominally listed as a fine shop based on one excellent cake but a priority among those shops, so it's at the ahead of the line, along with a couple other one-cake-sampled shops that had an excellent cake. This was chosen because it was close to a quite fine shop I visited and was the farthest away of the high-priority fine shops. Anyway, they have pretty elegant cakes with varieties that appeal to me, so I was optimistic. I chose Caramel Noix, which I knew was going to be somewhat a challenge, since the basic construction is a dependably traditional but unexciting layer cake with what's a fairly mild flavoring. Nevertheless, they pulled it off excellently, so I can advance the shop to quite fine and expect to get a couple more cakes from there in the near future. 

Ease/Repos, Nut, Dried Fruit, and Caramel Tart

Not that I was in a hurry, just I wanted to know how it was before this weekend Repos, so I sent to Isetan a lunch time and got a cake from the new counter, Repos (by P. Ease). It's pretty pricy and away from my usual tastes, so I momentarily gave up but after looking at the visiting counter of the week (a fine shop) and not finding information about when Repos might leave (though they replaced a shop that was there maybe 6 months?), I reconsidered and got the  Nut, Dried Fruit, and Caramel Tart, which was relatively reasonable (nothing exotic or seasonal in it) and looked promising. As the name states, it's a tart, specifically an almond cream tart, on top of which is a crème mousseline of custard, butter cream, and pistachio paste with bittersweet caramel. The topping is nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and cashews) and dried fruit (raisons and cranberries). Definitely hots of things I like in a substantial tart, so no surprise that I thought it definitely excellent. The name they put on top of the each is Ease. I assume they want to differential the location names because the offerings are different, but they have a pretty big space, offering various bake goods besides the fresh cakes. I should definitely get back there for a second cake earlier rather than latter when it comes time to go in for second cakes from shops that had at least good cakes.

Rue de Passy, Éclair Caramel

From their last cafe-off win, I owed Rue de Passy another visit, so I was there August 14th and picked up their Éclair Caramel, which worked out well, since it was excellent.

Yoshinori Asami: Caramel Pomme

Last Thursday I caught Yoshinori Asami and got the Caramel Pomme, which is a modern shaped cake, though it got a little mangled on the wrong side, so I took the picture from the top. The bottom is an apple tart and the main part is caramel mousse with apple compote. I haven't had much luck with these in the past, but this one was definitely excellent, so Yoshinori Asami stays as a exceptional shop.

Atsushi Hatae, Gourmandise

Foraging for food, I went out again today. I originally intended to do a neighborhood course clump, but quickly decided that the weather was too miserable, and that I wasn't actually confident about the changes I made in merging three loops into one, and combing that with two other loops, one new, to form the clump.  Fortunately, the miserable weather and general requests to avoid unnecessary excursions, kept people off the streets around the time I was running (i.e., during the March snow). I wasn't the only jogger, or the only one buying food that might not be vital to life, but it was pretty easy to keep a good distance from everyone. I'm remembering, now, that running, like alcohol, might not be best for maintaining good judgement, so I plan to be even more careful next time, if there is a next time (i.e., if the city isn't completely locked down). When I jogged in the evening, it certainly looked (from afar), that some shops were hurting for sales, as I would expect, at least for ones away from residential areas. But enough of the depressing stuff.

Working on the neighborhood sites, I got mini-financiers from Chavaty, which is a milk and tea shop (though I don't like milk in my tea), that has scones, but no clotted cream, so I'm not sure whether to trust them for scones. Thus, I went with the mini-financiers. They aren't like homemade, but maybe not everyone likes their financiers as baked/dry as I do. Also, these seem to be chocolate, from the color, though I can't tell so much from the flavor for this kind of baked good. They were good, but not impressive. I think I got 12 originally, but this was after the late run (after I dried off, had lunch, and then the first cake).

The first shop I got cake from was the Sarugaku-chou (the website, of course, says Daikanyama, since that's the nearest station and more sophisticated than "monkey pleasure") Atsushi Hatae shop that opened last year (at the same time as his other two shops). I went with the Gourmandise as likely to meet my tastes, as well as being strong for the return trip, which probably took me an hour through mush and detours trying to confirm other shops. Tea-flavored chocolate ganache, caramel and orange chocolate cream, and hazelnut praliné as the main components. Quite sophisticated, though not original, which is fine with me. I can call it excellent. This shop goes on the list of fine shops as one that I definitely want to get back to, in the next year or so (under the current strict system).

Lenôtre: Tour Eiffle Fraise

Tuesday, I was feeling a little sore and the weather was poor, so I went by bicycle to get cake from Lenôtre at the Ginza Mitsukoshi. I avoided the glass desserts by trying another red winter variation on one of their standard cakes, in this case a strawberry version of their caramel cake. The Tour Eiffle Fraise. I'm not a big fan of strawberry in particular, but it seems like an improvement over the regular chocolate version, or at least a nice variation. It was definitely good, though one could reasonably want more from the price. This shop still remains at the top of the exceptional shops, so it will likely get promoted. There are a still a couple glass desserts to try. Also, there is a winter version of their Plaisir that wasn't that much different from the original, which was just good, so I'm hoping something else will turn up. They should at least come up with something special for Valentine's Day, though I'm sure they'd rather sell chocolates.

Origines Cacao: Saint-Honoré Caramel Poire

Wednesday, I went for my 23rd new cake (I think, updating) from Origines Cacao and finally got the Saint-Honoré Caramel Poire (I hope that's correct). I ran there, but saint-honoré look a little fragile and the shop seemed a little concerned about my being careful (though that might have been my imagination), so I walked back, and also my right foot gives me trouble, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to rest it (though the problem is not obviously correlated with running). I expect to be pretty active tomorrow, probably bicycle first in the afternoon, then do weights, and then run in the evening.

The cake was definitely the kind I like, so although I can't be sure that it was better than the previous two days', it was excellent for me. The shop still is still challenging FC two ranks above, so I think I can justify going back next week.

Viron: Caramel Chocolat au Lait

Ran to Viron Monday night. I didn't really run so fast, I thought, but the time passed fast. Even coming back with the rain getting heavy, it did not seem like a long run, though it's longer than a Ginza run and there was only a tiny bit of walking underground. I delayed posting because I'm really not sure what's in this Caramel Chocolat au Lait. The chocolate is in the base of the tart shell, so it's not visible. This is maybe slightly more caramel above that, that is also not visible, but seemed rather red, so I wonder if there is something more than caramel. I'll have to ask next time I go by. It was definitely good and appropriate for some place that is more of bakery than a cake shop, but not super exciting. I'm not sure that they had another cake (though this could qualify as a pastry tart). Fortunately, it will take Origines Cacao time to finish its run to displace something in the superb group before I need to give Viron it's chance.

Camélia, Carmelina

Camélia, Carmelina

Went to Camélia in Ginza for a second cake, since the first one was excellent. Got the cake I was looking at, Carmelina (the "n" is silent in the Japanese at least). This is a relative thick dacquoise base with large bits of hazelnuts under cream made of caramel and mascarpone cheese (based on a user post; I didn't try to research the card that closely, since I forget during running anyway). Definitely my kind of thing and excellent. I like the flavors, though the usual ones, and the texture mix is great. This seems to be a quite fine shop. I'll probably be back next week for the third cake. I only ran one way, walking back to protect the cake, and my side, which is still giving me trouble. I'm probably over stretching it, so I'll watch it. It's not the side that needs the most stretching anyway.

Michalak, Religieuse

Monday, I was obsessed with the recently revised, than re-revised, then revised again Daikanyama-chou--Ebisunishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop. I'm still a little fuzzy on navigating the stairs at Daikanyama Stn./Dixsept shopping center, but I don't have to be so strict there. However, I noticed "it Coffee" off my course and shifted the course to add it, so Sunday's success was nullified, and I turned too soon after the new chocolate shop, so I failed Monday near the end. I was, however able to do the updated/corrected Shibuya central loop clockwise, so there was progress, and the run was really refreshing until the 10 km mark, when suddenly my hip was tired (this loop might have the most stairs, especially now, at least until I get to the part I split off from the main Akasaka loop).

Cake came on Tuesday, which is also the first day of the month, a good day to go to Isetan. I had the afternoon off, so I sent to Isetan and got two things. JPH's new cake in the lineup is an excellent one I've had before, so I didn't need get cake from them, but Michalak had their Religieuse, which I haven't had and I was two cakes behind on them. Unfortunately, they removed the almost identical Paris-Brest, which I hadn't done a third-round cake-off with yet, but I can wait a year. The other thing I got was a fresh viennoiserie (avoiding the vaguer term "pastry") from Andersen, the Choco Stripe. I had the latter first, before going out for exercise. It was good, but the concept sounds better than the practice, I think, because having the chocolate layered in loses crispness.

The exercise was once again practicing the Daita--Daizawa--Hatagaya--Kamiyama-chou--Kitazawa--Motoyoyogi-chou--Nishihara--Ooyama-chou--Shouto--Tomigaya--Uehara loop. I could go about an hour before I didn't have it memorized correctly. I added a shop with Australian sweets to the loop near Shim-Kitazawa station and shifted the course after that so I go by the Kitazawa Koushindou (a kind of traditional road-side shrine). Near the end, coming south from the northern most point near Hatagaya, I added a site marked Myōdōkai Kyōdan on a plaque, which is a Buddhist society, although the building just looks like a really nice residence. Still, I like this route more than staying on the main road, so I'll keep the change, and keep practicing until the route stabilizes and I learn it.

The Religieuse (which French and English authorities agree is a pastry but is cake for my purposes) really tasted very similar to Paris-Brest, but I prefer the latter. Still, excellent, so I don't begrudge them the variation, other than they timed it to coincide with JPH's introduction of Religieuse, which was announced a month ago. I should say that, though they told me hazelnuts, the recipe they showed me indicated, besides mostly caramel cream, pate almond. The top is whipped cream and a little fudge square.

The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli, Caramelia Pineapple Hazelnut

Ran down to the renovated The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli for a third cake, working in some 1-min dashing spurts. They don't seem to have pastries and bread any more and very modern looking (and dark). It looks nice. As my third cake, I went with the Caramelia Pineapple Hazelnut, whose name speaks for itself. I walked it back. It was definitely a good cake, but that's not enough to keep me trying there, so this shop gets shifted to the fine shop category. Only one more 2-cake shop in the quite fine group, which I've at least gotten down below 48, even if no where near the target 32 shops.

Cake-off: Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint Honoré over Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé

Got an early start (from having slept most of Sunday) on the Monday holiday, leaving at about 6 in the morning to try loops in the Azabu area. I was successful in 3 out of 4 cases, leaving a split: I did the very recently revised Nishi-Azabu--Minami-Azabu loop clockwise, and then finished off the Minami-Azabu west loop. Of course, the Azabu-Juuban loops was trivial to complete, the the tricky Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop defeated me two places, both which I can put down to fatigue, since it was in execution rather than knowledge that I failed, though the latter was not perfect overall either, just it was not necessarily what tripped me up.

I had time before shops opened, so I went back over to the big loop circling Shimo-Kitazawa that I haven't updated the name for. I spent not much more than an hour, so I only traced about half what I did last time with only slightly better knowledge. I did find one place where a seemingly unneeded detour could be removed. I feel that I've forgotten another place that needs correctly, but perhaps I was just thinking of a Starbucks that I need to add (I should also find out of the next nearest one closed) on a loop I passed coming back.

For cake, I was not planning to do a cake-off, but just get two cakes from top shops that will only be round for a couple weeks. First I went to Hikarie close to opening time and got the Éclair Caramel Salé. For the second, I went to the Jean-Paul Hévin Marunouchi shop, since they open later than Isetan, so I figured I would have a better chance of getting the new cake starting today, and I was right. The danger there was the small supply, but rain probably was keeping people away and I had Ginza Mitsukoshi as a back-up, which also probably has a smaller demand than Isetan.

I ate Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé first and decided it was great, both in terms of the caramel filling and the pastry. Of course, Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint Honoré is very similar in both, but I decide that it had more complexity, which was working for it, so I selected it as the winner, since they both seemed to be great. These two are probably going to dominate cake-offs for a while, which I may have to do extra ones for. I'm consider my cake budget for this month.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Paris-Brest

Only a tiny bit of running today. I started by cycling to Ginza Mitsukoshi to check out the special classic series at Jean-Paul Hévin. I've been watching for this for a year without realizing what I was looking for, just that sometime they sneak in cakes there unannounced and checking once a month is not enough. For the first half of September, is Paris-Brest which is new, which differs just slight from their Paris-Tokyo, which has chocolate sheet in the base. It's excellent. I'll able to get a new cake from JPH next week too, since they have one other new cake, but otherwise I need to get the second one from the series the second half of September. The one for the first half of October is excellent, and the one for the second half of October is maybe great, so I'll want to get it in at least one cake-off within the two week window. Haven't checked in on Sadaharu Oaki in person, but the Maron Fruits Rouge is back thru November, so I'll be able to get that in a third-round cake-off before it disappears again.

After getting cake, I went out again and did what I had suggested last time, which was ride out to the Dougenzaka south loop, which is one largish block, and do it counterclockwise to check it off, which I did. Then I went to get groceries and rode past a Natural Lawson that should be on the Maruyamachou--Shinsenchou loop next door, so I'll have to redo that one, which, which the added block, becomes 1.33 km. One step forward, two steps back. I had originally planned to do indoor exercises, but it was more than 2.5 h after all the shopping, so it will have to be tomorrow, when maybe I'll also ride down to the Maruyamachou--Sinsenchou loop.

Le Précieuse, Caramel Salé

I originally planned to bicycle to a nearby place and get cake and then go for a long run, but the first shop apparently closed early for the Obon season and the search was on. I was trying shops I'm trying to get a third cake from. There are six left that theoretically available on a weekday, but apparently not this week. The first was Pascal Le Gac. Then I tried the hotel cafe at Tokyo Midtown, but found out that they are renovating for the next 5 weeks, which is good to know. From there I tried south Ginza, where they were closed for the week, then north Ginza, where they were sold out, and then Nihonbashi, where they close early, this time at least posting a sign so I knew that was what had happened. I ended up coming back to the closed place, Le Précieuse at Yotsuya Station. By then there were only 15 minutes left to eat in, but it was enough. I got Caramel Salé (salt caramel) which includes nuts (I'll guess roasted peanuts). I thought it was definitely excellent, which surprised me, because I keep underestimating this place. Anyway, it's good enough to keep them in the quite fine category, leaving only six to check. I wouldn't be trying again this week anyway, so at least 4 should be available on a weekday next week and maybe in a couple weeks I'll get to the last remote one. I should also say that on the way I found another patisserie in Akasaka, but it requires using subway tunnels to get there without using a traffic signal.

Lenôtre, Tour Eiffle Voluté

Monday, which is a holiday, I changed my plan when I found my target shop is closed for a week of summer holiday. My next choice for a holiday-only shop also has their holiday this week, so I stopped searching and went with my top overall priority of available places, which is Lenôtre, both as a cake-off winner and as a shop listed as quite fine that is obviously going to need to be in at least the quite excellent category, but hasn't had that many cakes yet. As a department store counter, it was safe to assume that they would be available. Not sure what the closure schedule is, but probably just a Tuesday or two. Since I want to go back tomorrow for FC, I better confirm when those are. I went with their other most cake-like chocolate cake, which is the Tour Eiffle Voluté. This is their chocolate and caramel cake. I should mention that I went by bicycle, which seemed like a good idea, given the heat, but if I had known it was going to rain, I might have chosen running.

After bring back the cake, I went out by bicycle for an hour or so to confirm some shops and to see whether Vincennes was closed for holidays or had a schedule posted, neither of which is true, so I might visit Wednesday. I still need to check their regular hours.

Tour Eiffle Voluté was definitely good and the cake perhaps was the same quality as the others, but I felt like the added caramel texture and sweetness was muting the chocolate rather than harmonizing with it, so I prefer their other cakes. There are still other cakes to try, so I'll probably be back there next week.

For running, I tried two loops in the evening: the Jinguumae central loop counterclockwise and the Daikanyama-chou--Ebisunishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop, which are not as close to each other as would be convenient. It took about 2 hours of actual running over 14+ cycles of walking:running 1:8, so 14 dashes. The Jinguumae central loop was no problem, since it was just a minor change and the basic loop is not so hard or long. I hit the target loop, but now I can't remember why I split off one tiny loop, so I'm merging it back in and will have to try again. Currently, this is the largest loop I'm trying to confirm memorization of, at 9.75 km. Also, I've added half a dozen new sites (there are a lot of shops in this neighborhood), though none requires a movement of the course.