Went to Ginza, walking the first 1 km, then jogging 3.6 km to the edge, with the rest walking. Actually, the first kilometer was closer to 7 km/h than the initial "running", which averaged about 6.8 km/m, but the 6 km of walking averaged 6 km/m.
Slowly expanding my running rather than adding much weekly distance, which is about 60 km/week. Don't have the budget for much run tomorrow and spent enough on cake today, so I'll probably take tomorrow off and uses a less direct route to Bigarreaux Thursday (assuming the rain doesn't discourage me).
Had expected to go to Dalloyau, but stopped in at Frédéric Cassel, and they had one of their autumn specials, Mont Blanc Jewel. Besides the obvious chestnut cream and the candied (so some degree) chestnut cream on top with a little whipped cream, there was relatively little whipped cream inside, which was instead red currant compote (I had guessed blue berries actually, though not a strong separate taste) on a little doom of (baked) meringue on top a tart base. It's a tart base, but warning: it's pasted down pretty firmly, so you aren't going to pick it up easily. This was great, a "harmony" of chestnut and currant, as they claim, which does not surprise me at 864 yen. Taking a picture at a park in the rain, so a little cramped. A better picture
here.
Tried to make creme au beurre rose as one part of a cake (fancy cake number 4). Seems pretty easy, except still not that great at the Italian meringue. Got a lot of rose syrup now,, though and no other recipes. Need to get a macaron book.
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There were a couple cakes that we didn't get yesterday at Isetan from Maison g Tokyo (patisserie for Meguro Gajoen) that there was still interest in today, so we got them rather than stand in line at Jean-Paul Hévin for expensive special-event cake (which I was interested as a eat-in experience, but now the chocolate bar has been converted to to make space for Valentine's chocolate season, as happens every year). The cakes are Pistache Fraise and Waguri Mont-Blanc, so a probably white chocolate and pistachio mousse (with sufficient gelatin) around some strawberry part with some nice whole pistachios and a strawberry, and a Japanese chestnut Mont-Blanc with a meringue base and a whole chestnut inside. Both were good, but not better than that. After five cakes and nothing great and a couple only good ones, I may never get down to the actual Hotel in Meguro, though definitely good.
