Frédéric Cassel, Choux Cassis

Was windy today, due to a typhoon passing to the west, enough to stop some train lines. No rain in the evening though, so it was mostly fine for running. I imagine most running groups cancelled early, so there were not many people out on the moat course. Saw one tree had broken off and was floating in the moat to the east and someone official looking was inspecting the trunk when I reached it near Hibiya intersection.

Went back to Ginza Mitsukoshi by the scenic route (not so much as a plan, but I just missed the first traffic light, which is followed by a second traffic light that you can't make at any reasonable speed, so I turned and went down to Aoyama-doori Avenue, which adds more than 1 km, I think (especially if you start by trying to go the opposite direction). I walked from the big Ginza scramble (Sukiyabashi), but it was still about 75 min or running total round-trip, plus walking underground from there, as Marunouchi Line Ginza Station ti Ginza Mitsukoshi and then to Viron by the zigzag underground route.

For cake, I got Choux Cassis from Frédéric Cassel, which is the first time I've gotten this inspiration cake, one of three lately, along with a cheese charlotte and a tart. I would have been happy with this month's tart, which is blueberry, but wanted to finally try the cream puff, even though I've never liked cream puffs with whipped cream or fruit or any flavor of custard but vanille. However, the custard in this was a really rich dark red from the cassis/currant. It has a very strong fruit taste without being very sweet at all. And there was no feeling of a mismatch having the cassis whipped cream. I ate it in the 9th floor open area, since I figured it would be hard to carry home on foot due to wind. I still found that I really prefer cutting the pastry with a sharp knife versus my teeth, but it was still excellent and I look forward to trying other version in the future.

(Mon) Toshi Yoroizuka: Choux à la Crème and Saint Honoré Caramel

Went to the Tokyo Toshi Yoroizuka on Monday afternoon after a failed trip to Jean-Paul Hévin (the typhoon blocked the shipment of special pastry, so I reserved one for the special delivery on Wednesday) and shared three cakes: Baba, Choux à la Crème, and Saint Honore Caramel. The Baba is a repeat but worth mentioning, as I dismissed the whole cake type previously as uninteresting but am now willing to appreciate it and say that, even among baba, this one was excellent. The unusually feature (besides the strong warning about the amount of alcohol) was the fig. Another type of cake (?) that I've disparaged is Choux à la Crème, and in fact I got a really fancy one from Toshi Yorizuka just last week and was not impressed at all. This, however, was excellent. In fact, it's just what I said custard needed, something to contrast with it. I was thinking of a custard tart with a dense shell, but this cream puff was fairly thick, though not sense but rather had some air in it but it was baked enough to caramelize it much more than an one I've had before, and it really worked to make contrasting tastes that went together. (It's like, they are professionals, or something.)

The third cake was my choice and was a Saint Honoré Caramel and was definitely excellent. Not sure what else I can say about it. Also choux and cream/custard, but with a strong caramel taste that I liked (even though I'm not always a fan of a stronger, smokey caramel taste). 

The running was another failed attempt to run just my neighborhood course, which I can't stop fiddling with (which is what I do instead of playing computer games, which I also rarely finish). I confirmed some new parts but then got lost and found a couple things I didn't like so I've revamped it completely again (though the sights are the same, so the paths are not so different). My plan for Thursday is to make the next attempt of the approximately 20 km for the Yotsuya 3 chome SE & SW and surrounding Shinjuku Gyoen west, south, and east. In the unlikely event that I complete it without finding any parts that need to be further fixed, I've already confirmed that I can expand southwest without working out the details. The map thus far is here. 

Dalloyau: Chou Cubique Mangue

Tried running to Frédéric Cassel, at about 10 km/h in the rain, but even though they still had three types of cakes I hadn't bought yet after my last purchase, last week, this week they were sold out except for two that I've already had, so I'll wait until next Monday, maybe, to visit again.

Instead, I went to Dalloyau and abandoned my "choux à la crème doesn't count as cake" rule and bought the Chou Cubique Mangue for 540 yen. I figured that I've had prejudices against various types of cake that I've overcome, so some day I'll find a cream puff that changes my mind. This wasn't quite there, but it was definitely good. It seemed to be the soft Japanese-style rather than the traditional crisp chou. For the traditional, you really want to get them filled at the time you buy them (e.g., try Ryoco's, if you're willing to order ahead).