La Candeur: Marjolaine

Had a long run today, and there are many mistakes to report, so I'll get to it.

First step was to get to Aigre-Douce to look for previously blogged great cakes. Not surprisingly, now is not the season for fresh raspberries, which was the cake I was looking for, although they did have the salt caramel tart that I liked. My route deviated from the plan on the initial roads and then I ran into trouble where Meiji Avenue goes under Mejiro Avenue, as I did not find the stairs that Google says are there (actually, I did not remember where Google said there were stairs, but the only ones I saw to use were on the wrong side, so I should have stayed over there, which was in the shade). I ended up with an extra 400 m. Problem is, to stay on budget, besides not adding distance, I needed to keep the outbound to 10 km/h and this about 6 km stretch ended up 11 km/h, which  I did not even realize, so double penalty there.

At Aigre-Douce, to power my next stretch, I got their bostock for 280 yen. This was definitely good. It seemed lemony, though maybe I was misinterpreting almond liquor or something.

Next 14 km was to Yu Sasage, and this time I stuck to the plan. I was only slightly slower then the first strech, but this brought me within the 10 km/h range. This time, neither of their great cakes that I've had were available, probably because it is the wrong season. I should have bought another snack there so I wouldn't be so hungry that I ate my cake at the actual target for cake. Got a photo, though.

First time to La Candeur, so got a little confused at the first turn (plus, I couldn't remember the details of the plan, so I took the main road south after rejoining Route 20). Seems like a nice shop, and very new looking. The selection was nice. I went with a traditional cake, Marjolaine, which was perhaps a mistake, but I'm too much a slave to the classics.

As I said above, I almost immediately gave into temptation and ate it at a park. This was the wrong temperature for this cake, which, based on the fact that two of the filling layers are whipped cream, should be eaten about 10 degC (which was the ambient temperature, but it would have taken a while to reach that, and I've already said that I was not patient). Anyway, I've made this cake myself, and this seemed to be exactly by the book and taste about how I would expect. So it was definitely good, although, as chocolate, chocolate whipped cream never works well for me, so again, this was perhaps a bad choice. It did make me think about making this cake again, but I don't really need this shop's (but not because it's worse), so that's not an indicate that it's excellent. Too many Tokyo shops to give them a second chance, unless they visit Isetan, in which case I should.

Back (about 14 km) was supposed to be 9 km/h, to stay in budget, and I was definitely slower, but was still in the 10 km/h range, which was a bigger deal the being fast and long on the first stage, so I'm over my running budget by 3% now, though since I only get to expand it every couple weeks, that's not unreasonable (my expansion pace is 10%/week, but only 10% of what I actually ran for one week starting two weeks previously, so it's easily interrupted). My raw distance the last 7 days was 90.8 km and the 12 km/h equivalent (what I actually use in my budget) was 80.7 km. I won't have a lot of running budget for the next block of weekdays, since the budget won't get upped until next Sunday and this weekend is taking up the majority of the current budget. Still, I can plan out a couple training runs, one second visit, and one new shop for Tuesday through Friday so I'm fine. Might run early Saturday, before my first appointment, but not enough for my budget to matter, since I'm busy that weekend. Tomorrow I'll rest, but get some bread.

With that all planned out, now I need to figure out where I need to go to research great cakes for comparison in two weeks so I can start figuring that week's schedule.

Au Bon Vieux Temps: Marjolaine

Did a round trip to Au Bon Vieux Temps in Oyamadai (well, Todoroki, actually, but the nearest station is Oyamadai Station, also in Todoroki but next to Oyamadai, so let's go by that): 25 km. Kept up a good pace, definitely 6+ km/h and not that much slower coming back. Happily, my feet didn't turn red, unlike the big walk last Thursday, so I did something right. Not so sure about my knees yet, crossing my fingers, but I plan to rest tomorrow anyway.

Got the Marjolaine, for, I forget how much, around 500 yen, anyway. 496 yen? They keep their regular individual cakes small, more than do the big international brands, not high priced, unlike their frozen deserts. This was a great cake, and the best Marjolaine that I've had, I think. Not sure whether they made Japonaisemasse as the biscuit, as it is not baked that dark, but it's hazelnut dark and tastes right. They went with powered sugar on top and included a layer nut slivers in the creme praline. The ganache layer is pretty thin, but seems a good choice for keeping the chocolate from taking over from the praline.

Finally, a near-great shop lives up to its designation, so I'll give it a new color on the map and mark it and other ones as such when it's convenient. Not sure when I'll get back to this shop, as it's a good distance, but if the weather ever clears up (typhoons keep bring in rain), I can take the bicycle out for more trips to these farther ones.

Noliette: Gateau Marjolaine

This week's visiting shop at Isetan is P. Noliette, which I haven't posted on. I could not resist the Gateau Marjolaine for 518 yen. It was better than mine, I'll tentative say, so it must be excellent. Certainly, the cake was softer, although you can make Marjolaine with sponge rather than a Japonaise, like my recipe (which I should mention I really do need 180 deg C rather than 170 to get the middle properly caramelized), and I have to wonder whether this is buttercream filling rather than creme chantilly. Still, I'm somewhat inspired to try again soon. At the very least I'm inspired to get back to Isetan while Noliette is there and get their Opéra Révision, which is a pistachio opera.

My own cooking was to make a biscuit noisette, even without "bubble emulsifier" and without an oven that can be set for 225 deg C on top and 165 deg C on bottom (and fits a 40 x 60 cm pan). It worked, but I didn't spread the better thin enough in the pan (it needs to be pretty thin, like just a few millimeters). Tomorrow I plan to try making, I think, "creme brulée au praliné" (the recipe puts an extra "au" in there, "creme au") despite not having a candy thermometer to figure out whether the syrup is at 121 deg.

Local tour 9 to 10 km: 2000 (Deux Mille) Feuilles from Pierre Hermé

Bought my cake at Isetan first, from Pierre Hermé: 2000 Feuilles for 864 yen. It was a praline mille-feuillles (or apparently a double mille-feuilles). The online description is "Flaky caramelized puff pastry crust, crispy praliné with Piedmont hazelnuts, and praliné mousseline cream", which is as much ore more than you need to know except how it was.

For the run, I meant to check out the state of the Ginkgo trees along the south lane to Aoyama Street, but forgot. Even Tuesday night in light rain, there was a long line for the new Shake Shack, I think it is called. Doesn't sound like something I would need, but must be a big deal and it, their line, running, and the darkness distracted me.

Continued the tour to Takagi (still there), Louange Tokyo, which is in a dead-end alley that does not look like it should have anything besides condo entrances. Actually it is a private club as well as a cake shop and had the most high-end entry way I've seen on a patisserie, but it still looked like I could just walk in from jogging if I wanted (but not sit down on the upholstered chairs). There was a customer, so apparently other people are able to find it in a cul-de-sac (I think) off a street, off a short street, off the main street that runs in front of Roppongi Hills.

Continued on to go past Tokyo Midtown (stopping briefly to use the facilities) and swung by Neues, the German cafe I go for cake, which had the sign out saying that they were open. 

Went on to Akasaka and on down to the Niku ("Meat") no Hanamasa to get some roasted peanut pieces for making peanut butter and confirmed that I can get cheese there okay (I've been to a branch too small to have the 700 gram blocks, but I need a new source now that the one on my main street closed). Major difference from my old one: this one was playing French pop classics, whereas my old one played 80's alt/college pop. Different neighborhood.

Doubled back to confirm that I could find Del'Immo without checking the map (but I still need to check on how to spell it). 

Finally, went to Lawson 100 for snacks, crackers, and yogurt. I walked from there.

Which bring me back to the cake: praline (deux) mille-feuille: every part of it was great. It's expensive, of course, but it is a good-sized piece of cake. Probably just as well that there was not more of it, because I could have kept on eating (actually I did keep on eating, because I could not resist my freshly made peanut butter). 

Laps and Sadaharu Aoki Chocolat Pralin

Tried to do 7'/lap for 10 laps and failed from the start. I'm sore and just didn't have the will to push myself that hard for that long. I did make 10 laps within 7'15''/lap, but by less than 10 s total, so not that impressive. I knew I wasn't pushing as hard because I wasn't puffing as hard or burning as hard, but my back was not happy so I decided that I was going fast enough. I need to add regular back stretches. I've done 8 laps at 7'/lap previously (as part of 9 laps), so I need 9 laps at that pace to show improvement. I'll try that next or move over to seeing what how I can do with 2 laps around Akasaka Palace.

Cake was Chocolat Pralin from Sadakaru Aoki by way of Isetan for 780 yen. Pricy, but didn't buy cake yesterday (I made cake, and had some today and decided that the evaporated milk recipe is not worse than the cream recipe, and cheaper, mainly because I use less evaporated milk, though it's harder to find). According to the online description, the cake has some orange biscuit, which I didn't notice, but no mention of chocolate dacquoise. It definitely has chocolate cream and cream praline. It has feuillantine (?), which I assume is almond based, but seems accurate from the texture. Anyway, it all goes together and is chocolaty and praline without being overpowered by that. I thought that this was one that I had been indifferent to when I did the sampler set at Tokyo Midtown, but no disappointment today.

Takagi: Fontainebleau

Today is a day to make excuses about running/shame myself, which is one purpose of this blog. The excuse is that I did 21 km yesterday, which is two day's running. Still, I wanted to do strength training that I can rest afterward from so I'm still ready for 40+ km Saturday morning. My running was 1 min/1 min intervals and I tried to run as fast as possible (as embarrassingly slow as that is, I still run out of air and I'm not that sore), I did not take the shortest possible route to Takagi in Aoyama, but it was close enough that I only had time for 6 intervals, because it's really close. Then I ran back with my cake, and that was it. I tried working out in my room, but I was really tired and hungry, and only got a third of the way through my normal routine. I'll try running to Ginza/Shinbashi tomorrow and doing a better inside workout Friday. I really need to get some dumbbells, but apparently the nearest Biccamera with them is Akasaka, which is okay if I go by bike on Sunday, I guess.

From Takagi, I got Fontainebleau (my spelling), which is almond and hazelnut praline around caramelized nuts with a layer of chocolate. It's a seasonal cake, so perhaps this is what got me thinking this place was great back when I started seriously looking around for nearby places to run to get cake, since this seems designed to appeal to me. It was 562 yen, which is not too bad these days of the weak yen. The cake is very good, is well-balanced, and was not something that I got tired of. No reason to call it great, though, so I think I'm going to have to downgrade my evaluation of Takagi. Still, very convenient and has good cake. And they give me little chocolate/nut something for free fairly often, as a kind of appetizer, I think. It's always the same, though, so I have to watch out or I'll get tired of them when they give me two. I should freeze them and save them for sharing, but I'm too greedy for that so far.

Sadaharu Aoki: Valencia and laps

Yesterday I worked out inside and didn't get cake because I planned to get something expensive today, which I did: the Valencia from Sadaharu Aoki (Isetan, Shinjuku) for 840 yen.

Today, running was laps around Meiji Jingu Gaien again, with the goal being 7 laps within 7'45'' per lap. Due to shoelace problems, there was an extra half-lap not timed, in addition to the normal warm-up running to get to the course. Numbers were 50'45'' total, with laps 7'28'', 7'07'' (actually, the first lap time was long and and the second was short due to button-pushing problems in the dark while running), 7'33'', 7'27'', 7'19'', 7'11'', and 6'41''. Next I'll try 8 laps within 7'30'' each, which means I'll have to pick up the pace on that third lap, although my average was under 7'15'' this time at least, so probably I'll be okay still. 

The cake was great. This is a "strange marriage of orange mousse and feuillantine praline". Well, it's not so strange, but it is delicious, though not a strong taste, which is a good thing. Sweet but not too sweet. The feuillantine is nice and crunchy and the base biscuit is also very good. The cake is probably large for this style of fancy French cakes compared to some cheaper shops. I don't imagine that they are willing to compromise on the size or ingredients, despite price rises that are hitting everyone. 

1-min intervals to Toshi Yoroizuka: MT Noix

Today, I jogged down to Tokyo Midtown using 1 min comfortable, 1 min hard running intervals, 15 total. The Toshi Yoroizuka there had the cake that I was looking for the other day, MT Noix (actually, in the shop, this has become "Em(p)ty Noah" phonetically for some reason, but "Noix" makes more sense as far as being a nut, even though I'm not sure that there is any noix---walnut---in it; the "MT" is "Midtown") for 570 yen. This is hazelnut cake and hazelnut praline cream along with chocolate cake and nuts and chocolate on top. It is a great cake. Neither the praline nor the chocolate is too strong, so I don't get tired of it halfway. It moved around a little in its base, so there are some loose nut pieces on the plate; it's kind of too tall for its own good.

Sunday afternoon run: Rue de Passy and S'éveile

In running, I was looking for a better Marjolaine, so weaved a little and stopped in a few places. I looked in at Takagi at Gaienmae, then Chez Lui (which is just somewhere I go past frequently and doesn't look particularly promising, although it might be fine for what it has) in Shibuya, then Cacahouete just inside Meguro-ku, by Sourire again, just because that was the best route, a pop in at Matterhorn by Gakugei University/College Station (where I wouldn't expect to see a fancy cake), to Rue de Passy a couple blocks away, where I got the Opera Pistache which is related, in being nutty, and closely related to Opera Praline, which is the second recipe in the same book, although it a recipe that is much more complicated and so I would not imagine trying it.

I'll call this a great cake (and it was not particularly expensive) and say that I should consider whether this is a great shop. Unfortunately, it closes 30 minutes earlier and is one station farther away than Sourire, so I don't think I can easily manage a weekday run there unless I learn to be faster.

I continued on to Jiyuugaoka and stopped in at the Dalloyau, just in case, on the way to m.koide, which I decided to downgrade from a great shop just because the selection is pretty small, although they were open on a Sunday this time.

That leads to my actual second cake, which was Le Suprême from (Paris) S'éveille, for 620 yen. This was blackberry and chocolate mousse, so I recommend eating it in the shop, although I managed to get it to a park with minimal melting despite that it was not well packed. Still, great cake, even with the limitation of being mostly mousse. There are still lots of cakes I need to sample from there (for blogging: I've probably had this cake before).
Later, I had some of the chestnut cake below (1200 yen from Aoki). It's fine. Sorry, but I don't know what it's called. It might be exclusive to Shinjuku Isetan.

Saturday evening: 15+ km to Sourire

The recipe that's been looking at is a Marjolaine, so I Googled the name and thought I'd try one. It showed up at Sourire, which I've been to a couple times and gotten a tart and maybe cheese cake, so never really regular cake, for whatever reason. They are open until 8 pm and I can get there in an hour, so I should consider them for longer runs, which is what I did and tried out the new watch (but used the old shoes). I did alternating 1 minute intervals (pausing the timer where necessary at stoplights) and managed 10. I had my usual problem with my left foot, though: when I run hard, I apparently don't run well and do some damage. I can run 40+ km without problems (because I never run that hard) of that sort, but a few hard intervals are a problem. I may need to see a professional and get some running advice.

Added Sourire (as well as others for later posts), which is near Youtenji, to the map. This picture I can post. Marjolaine is hazelnut Japonaismasse cake with praline cream and whipped cream layers. I was expecting a stronger taste from the cake part, since the hazelnut powder can be the most expensive part, but you can also get cheap stuff too, which I'm not sure works the say, so maybe that's what happened here. I would have expected the cake to be firmer and darker, although as far as firmer, you are supposed to add the filling and then give it a day for the moisture to soak into the cake part, so maybe this is just the way it's supposed to be. It was not bad. In fact, it was very good, although, as I said, it was not what I was expecting, and less whipped cream would have been better for me (which is maybe why I don't like Japanese [strawberry] short cake, which tends to be a pile of whipped cream with strawberries and little tasteless sponge cake inside). It was 480 yen, which is reasonable.

Sunday cycling with a flat

Today I went out to Au Bon Vieux Temps and got a Quartette for 486 yen, I think. I chose this particular great place because they open at 9 am and the extreme heat is continuing, but I left a little late and had navigational problems, so I didn't arrive as early and I could have, but at least before 10 am, I think. I've had this cake before and have been looking to have it again. The three layers of mousse (white, milk, and bitter chocolate) are extremely creamy. Maybe because of the heat, the outer chocolate was too sweet or something for me. Maybe if it had not been chocolate. I may have to alter my selections for the season. Still, great cake otherwise. Again, with this heat, it's a race to eat it, so the picture is messy.

Next, at Sucreries Nerd down the road a few kilometers was the Opera Praline. Usually, a cake called Opera has coffee in it, so I automatically stay away from them, but there was nothing about coffee on the description card so I asked and it was coffee-free. Instead, it is a harmony of ganache and praline buttercream, with milk chocolate icing on top. It was good, but I was distracted by a flat tire; not fun in the heat. Anyway, the cake was good and they had a few interesting things, but no priority to get back there. Glad Ota-ku has something good, though.

12 km follow-the-signals run with cake from La Maison du Chocolat: L'Entremet Pralines

I decided to try going southwest from Aoyama Road toward Omotesando for a change. As expected it was more crowded but fairly manageable. Had a close brush with the rare female slave zombie, but avoided injury.

This took me past Chocolat Chic (which I've added to the map), which sounds like it should be good but they aren't that into chocolate and their cake isn't very good, in my experience. I actually stopped at La Maison du Chocolat for the first time. Really expensive: 810 yen for L'Entremet Pralines. This is seven layers. Despite the structure and look, the texture ends up similar to a typical American chocolate layer cake as far as high sugar frosting and moist cake. The praline was peanuts and hazelnuts and I have to say that peanuts just does not work for me in cake, although in general the cake seemed well made. Cleverly, they a lump of raspberry flavored ganache (I think it was ganache) while I was waiting, which was quite excellent, so obviously I should have gotten the raspberry cake. Since the sweetness of my cake suggests that it would be better with tea, I'll consider going back there when I'm not alone and visiting the upstairs salon.

The rest of the run made a figure eight, not really intentionally, just that's the way the lights were at the intersections and I went with them. I mapped it on the regular weekday map, for a change. 

Tomorrow is going to have to be homemade cake, to conserve resources. Fortunately, I have a lot of cheese tarts in the freezer. Of course, this means I'm tempted to buy sauces for toppings, which can be more expensive than cake, at least one for one. I'll try something simple and cheap first, though, like adding a layer of dark chocolate on top using a melted chocolate bar.

32 km to Jun Ujita: Gateau morjolaine, Orange caramel, Chocolat pistache

Today was a 32 km run along this course (I've imported things from the current Weekday map), which hits Jun Ujita at about the one-third point and returns there for the end. At the first visit (actually I've gotten simple chocolate cake there some time just to confirm that I hadn't been ignoring them for a good reason), I got a Gateaux majolaine for 450. As you see, with a hazelnut meringue crust (definitely could tell the nuttiness), there is a cream and butter layer and a cream and praline layer in the form a ganache sandwich. It was very good, but not so special. Maybe I would have wanted it to be a little "heavier", but then it would be a different cake.

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Running slopes and stairs to Libertable: Crystal

The rain stopped most of the time and otherwise was not significantly different from the rain of sweat. Still, it was a late start due to work, so I had an excuse to not stray too far. I did my usual steepest slope loop near the Soka Gakkai campus/complex three times and did two and a half times around the pair of stairways at the nearby main neighbor shrine, and some other regular slopes before heading around Akasaka Palace and visiting Libertable again for the Crystal, which is a shu cream which is mostly hazelnut praline cream, which is different. For 388 yen, it is pretty reasonable and very good. It had been since Sunday that I had had a professionally made cake, so I would have bought the Zenith if they had had it, but this was still a good choice.

I also completed the rum banana tart and have to say, eh. I like bananas in my yogurt for breakfast, but I guess not otherwise. I've never had anything else with bananas where I appreciated them, just I had this tart recipe (from the cookbook that came with my oven) and wanted to try it. The custard and shell are still fine. I wonder whether I could substitute peaches. Run and peaches go together, don't they? I've still got 80 ml of rum, or about 5 more 14 cm tarts. 

Almost forgot that I took the next picture. I correctly judged that it would still be clear at night with my shaky hand. This is on Aoyama Street near where the loop around Akasaka Palace grounds runs into it going clockwise.

10+ km to Aux Bacchanales: Trianon

I didn't calculate the exact distance but I went through Yotsuya and up and down hills and got a little lost (although I'm not sure that I took any different path than if I had a map), so let's call it 10+ km and leave it at that. My knees were still a little sore. I think I need to start doing some speed training and sprinting rather than just hills, to break up the weekday runs. Maybe I'll try around Gaien first, since that's short. I need a loop so I don't have to stop for lights (which are also a danger to life anyway). I suppose I'll use my flip phone to time. Now I'm interested in the iWatch, or whatever it is, but I'm sure the price will cure me of that.

So the goal (successfully reached, and still no rain) was Aux Bacchanales. This is more of a cafe (a busy one), and not every branch has regular cake, but the Ginza store does [but quit since the original post], with a separate wait person. I first ended up there when Dalloyau failed me. Before that, I mostly ignored it because (a) it seemed ubiquitous and (b) the one nearest me doesn't do most cake, just fancy bread and is a big cafe/bar in a rich area. I've updated only the shops in this old map.

This is a Trianon (トリアノン). I've lost the receipt, but the website says that the cake was 515 yen, so 556 with tax. I think I paid about 550 yen, so close enough. On a dacquoise (base almond/hazelnut meringue layer: ダコワーズ) base, supposedly there is crushed crepe (フイティーヌ), praline cream, and chocolate mouse in there layers. Of course, there is chocolate coating and you can see pieces of I assume chocolate, which the official description calls fichinu (フイチーヌ), which, like much of the description, Google translate wants nothing to do with. Again, I need a Japanese-French to anything (Japanese, French, or English) dictionary to figure out what most of these terms actually mean, and it has to be flexible for the Japanese spelling, since it doesn't seem to be standardized for all terms.

This cake is a success. It's chocolate cake, with layers of mouse and layers of cream and all is chocolaty, but not overpoweringly, and the almond on top gives away that some of this is almond base. The base is moist yet a little crunchy. It is great cake, so I think of this as a great shop, and it's not their only great cake, according to memory. Comparing this shop's cake with other places' is one of my ultimate goals.