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.

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.

Sadaharu Aoki, Tarte Caramel Salé Matcha

Today, I hit Isetan for a new, 1-month only, Isetan-exclusive cake from Sadaharu Aoki, Tarte Caramel Salé Matcha. I recorded the Tarte Caramel Salé as great and haven't seen it since, so I was excited about this one.

For running, I went down to work on the loops replacing the Jinguumae--Kita-Aoyama--Shibuya loop. On the way, it's looking more doubtful that BAKERY CAFE 426 OMOTESANDO will return, but I don't want to revise that loop again, so I'm holding off until I see what's next at that location. Across the street, I got the revised Jinguumae 5 & 6 loop clockwise and am reasonably happy with it, but I won't replace the old loop and update connecting parts until I confirm counterclockwise. The Jinguuemae--Kita-Aoyama south loop next to it failed, due to an overlooked traffic signal, and I'm gong to have to further split it, into two loops. The Dominique Ansel Bakery there has closed, but it doesn't affect things because there are two other sites on the same street. That's why I need so many loops: it's a maze with lots of sites close together. I went down an did the Jinguumae--Shibuya loop clockwise, no problem. It's a biggest loop but mostly simple, though very zigzaggy next to the UN University and I'm not sure whether it will be harder counterclockwise. The running was at a 5:9 ratio walking:running. So even though I ended up doing only a little over 45 minutes of actual running, it was compressed in a shorter amount of time, though I also maybe didn't work myself as hard on the 1 min fast stretches as last time.

The tart turned about to be nice, and I'll rate it excellent for presentation and concept, but maybe my sweet tooth needed more caramel in it to be ideal for me.

L'Éclair de Génie: Chocolat Grand Cru, Caramel Salé, and Vanille Pecan

Wanted cake for two on Wednesday, so I went to Shinjuku Takashimaya. On the way, though, I stopped by Toshi Yoroizuka visiting Isetan and saw that Annya (tart-based rhubarb and red fruit cake) was back, which was useful information for the next cake-off (second round, loser's).

For Takashimaya, I didn't check which shops were available at the cafeteria-style patisserie counter, so I wasn't surprised when the ones that I wanted were not there (just need to remember not to go on Wednesday again). I selected instead L'Éclair de Génie from among by backups, and got the Chocolat Grand Cru, Caramel Salé, and Vanille Pecan. These were all good, so I wasn't disappointed, but not exciting, so I probably won't be back again.

Frédéric Cassel, Tarte Noisette

Decided to do the cake for Frédéric Cassel's last cake-off win. I went a long way relatively fast yesterday, so I just did 9 km/h both ways for about 9 km. The US visit police presence and road barricades around Yotsu Station and Hibiya Park were gone, not that they affected me much either way.

The cake was Tarte Noisette, which is, bottom to top, praliné, hazenut-flavored chocolate ganache filling, and white chocolate & Guérande salted hazelnut whipped ganache. It was excellent nutty goodness, as expected. Glad to get a chance to try this. Of course, they have a couple other hazelnut things, as this month's theme, that I probably won't get to, as I'm behind on other shops and the theme will change again next month, no doubt.

[Sat. thru Mon.] Jean-Paul Hévin: Kouglof Chocolat & Kouglof Chocolat Caramel Salé

I'm behind posting. Part of that is too much time fiddling with my Neighborhood map, for which I took a bunch of pictures for parts of the SE of Yotsuya 3choume neighborhood, which has 55 total items (about half temples, but also shrines, parks, churches, cake shops, and similar), which I've finally fully memorized. Still need to attach all the photos I have, but some of them need fixing (the ones taken vertically need to be edited and saved twice in order for them to appear correct).

Cake was a visit to the Jean-Paul Hévin chocolate bar at Isetan, where I got the kouglof cake set which gives you slices of both the chocolate and chocolate salted caramel version) with Chocolat Chaud Framboise (I think; haven't been studying my French). This came with whipped cream for the cake, which otherwise does not really qualify as "fresh" cakes, since it's more like a torte, though I am not yet making that distinction, since I don't usually by pound cake, or "weekend cake" or other cakes that you aren't told to eat that day. The cake was definitely good, but no competition for their usual fresh cakes, and the hot chocolate was excellent, which is better than average, I suppose.

Running for the weekend did not come until Friday night, where I just missed completing the Sendagaya neighborhood run without mistakes (I added Sendagaya 4choume Children's Play Park, which Google doesn't identify and turned too early on the new leg), so I think I'll be okay going forward and try a longer run with this as a component. I also did a run through the next one south, which is centered around Jinguumae 3choume, looking frequently at my phone. Found one part quickly where I'm going to need to turn back toward the center to find a crosswalk without a crossing light, but the bigger problem is the bridge on the southeast is closed for construction, so I can't use it to connect to the Aoyama course. To get there account to my rules, I need to construct the map for the neighborhood north of Omotesando Station and the connecting one for South Aoyama to come on the Aoyama one from the south. I ran about 10 km total at 9 km/h. Monday, I ran 21+ km at 10+ km/h out and 9+ km/h back with no cake to show for it, but I was still feeling bloated from the rest of the weekend (after JPH), that I'm fine with just adding some pasta and tomato to dinner rather than something sweet.

Sakura: Madona

Working my way through places that I've never blogged on but are reachable on a weekday, I ran to Sakura in Toyosu, which is about 19 km round trip. The main problem going there is going through Ginza, where, between the crowds and the stoplights, you're really better off going underground and walking from about the first Ginza station to East Ginza Station, as far as going east-west. I did 12+ km/h the first half out and then dropped down to 9 km/h for the second outbound half, even walking underground (which I included in the time both ways) and doing a couple big pedestrian bridges (as well as three bridges over water, each way). There was some rain in the second half, but the first half coming back was down to 8 km/h, even without rain, due to strong winds (which didn't let up much), though I got back up to 9 km/h for the last bit, despite the wind.

The cake was Madona (マドンナ; 493 yen), which is puck-shaped chocolate mousse cake with a "smoky" flavor, created by chili pepper and salt. It was definitely good and I appreciated the creativity, but not really special enough that I need to get back there soon. I should congratulate their good packing, since this side at least traveled pretty well given the the mad made the bag carrying its box horizontal frequently.

Jean-Paul Hévin (Marunouchi): Guérande,

I'm behind, so this is on Tuesday. I had a busy schedule of running planned, though it required modification and the cake side was mixed, like last time.

First, I had to stop by a local shrine and get rid of a worn out charm (or so I was told). Then it was off to the Isetan Men's Salone, which has a Jean-Paul Hévin chocolate "café". I was looking for new cakes, but the reason I was expecting there might be something was that Valentine's Day is coming up and they had multiple special cakes for Christmas, but they said they we're not doing anything special for cake for this holiday. However, they had Guérande (グランド; 583 yen), which I hadn't had, so I sat down and had it. What I was told was that there was salt and also crepe, giving it crunch, both true, I think. At the same time, I was readying the card and only got to chiboust, which I think is just that little line in the middle, since I couldn't see that any of the rest of it was especially egg heavy. It was definitely excellent, I thought as I ate it, but was it really great if I compared it to other chocolate cakes that were great? I thought probably not. However, the problem was I then didn't drink enough water and didn't brush my teeth or even wash my mouth out. So even though it did not seem salty when I ate it, baked crepe tends to stick in the back teeth and I ended up tasting the salt for the rest of the run, which I do not like, though it was not so strong as to make me feel sick (which salt can do to me, if it's like big crystals on a pretzel or chocolate. So be careful careful of the after effects if you have this cake, but most people don't just eat a piece of cake with a little water and then run.

Next task was to go to Dalloyau to see whether they had Opale (or Opalé?), so I could compare it to another cake over the weekend. In fact, no, and it does not have a regular schedule, so I had to scrap my weekend plan and come up with something else to compare a rather unusual cake from Origines Cacao (which may not have that cake, either), thus being behind now. Anyway, the goal was information, so job done. I had been planning to go another two blocks for my cake that day, but since JPH had had something new, that was out, so instead I headed home. However, since I was off plan, I just sort of winged it and went back zig-zagging on a lot of different roads that I usually never use (and now know not too, since they are mainly too crowded with people for the sidewalk width).

In total, I ran about 11 km (I walked in Ginza and coming out as far as Hibiya Park), all at 12 km/h, though on the low side (around 11.7 km/h).
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Jean-Paul Hévin, Marunouchi, Chuo-ku, Guérande, Tokyo cake, running, salt, chiboust, feuillantine, chocolate,

Pierre Hermé: Flocon Plénitude

Yesterday's run was boringly like the previous day's: laps around Meiji Gingu Gaien at 11 km/h, just I did a fourth lap (5.3 km total), plus kept the speed up going home, but was a little slower coming. 

The cake (bought today) was from Pierre Hermé at Isetan, the Flocon Plénitude (フロコン プレニチュード ["plenitude of flakes"]; 864 yen). This is pretty complicated, supposedly: a chocolate macaron, chocolate ganache with chocolate in it, chocolate with fleur de sel (a kind of salt) in it, and chocolate mousse. It is a rich chocolate cake and everything harmonized well, except the dryness of the macaron (?) wasn't really working for me, as texture. Maybe if I had known what it was (I found the description online later), I would have appreciated it at the time. I was worried that I am overly biased toward chocolate, but I realize that I'm also critical of chocolate cake that doesn't live up to what I think is the best I've had, so I suppose those factors balance out. This was definitely a good cake, but not something I need again and so hard to recommend at the price. I would like something more exceptional than design from the half dozen shops that I am designating "superb". Of course, I already knew that holiday cakes made for shape rarely are great, so maybe I should have chosen differently, but the description is sufficient interesting, now that I've had a chance to read it, it still seems like the logical choice, so no regrets, except that the photo came out blurry.

Rue de Passy: Caramel Salé

As planned, I did a round trip walk to Rue de Passy, 16.5 km, at a steady 5.5 km/h, which is a determined but fairly effortless (for the first 10+ km) walk. There's a eat-in space behind the curtain on the left (facing south).

Around the 5 km mark in Daikanyama, I stopped at Boncaffé Bondolfi and got a cannolo for 430 yen, which was just okay. I don't have any reason to believe that it was not exactly how a cannolo from a café should be, but next time I'll see what Chez Lui nearby has, as far as snacks.

The cake was Caramel Salé, which was the Chef's recommendation and 496 yen. It was definitely good, but I was hoping for better. I'll set them back to "good" on the map, which was what I originally figured. I'll probably get back to have the Pistachio Opera again some time to see if it was really as great as I thought the first time.

Ryoura: Tarte Chocolat Caramel Salé

Cycled out to Yoga in western Setagaya to visit Ryoura, which seems to be a hot topic right now, seemingly for good reason. No line near opening time, which is late, 11:00 am, but it's a nice shop. They had Tarte Chocolat Caramel Salé and I read the description as far as "nuts", after which there was no reason for me to resist my impulse for chocolate. I'm very biased, but think this is great. If other places would make more chocolate, salt caramel tarts with nuts, maybe I would become more discriminating but until then, I'll appreciate this shop's accurate anticipation of what I want. Also, the price was 520 yen, which is reasonable for great cake. This is basically a standard chocolate mousse dome, complete with (bavarian) cream, on top. The base is a tart shell, a layer of chocolate biscuit/cake, and then the caramel. Also, the outer coating is obviously very reflective; not sure what I could have done about that for the photo.

I was cycling, so my route was somewhat random and I ended up going past Patisserie Main Mano again, so I decided to stop and see what they had. I was thinking they were more a bakery, because their other shop nearby (both in the Yoyogi area) is a boulangerie and café, but they had some cakes. I had already had cake, so I got a choux cream for 200 yen. It was good. Also, they filled it after I ordered, which seems to be the best way. It rolled around a little before I took this picture, so don't judge to harshly.

Went over to Takashimaya and verified that they have Ma Priere cakes, so I don't need to run out there tomorrow. Already have plans to visit L'Abricotier on Saturday and expect to get cake at Isetan earlier in the week, so my best bet for unvisited places hard to go to on a workday is Avranches Guesnay. I got it from Joshi+, which isn't that reliable (since its priority is to go some place new and it's been running for a years now), but the online info looks okay and it's close on a rainy day. Guess I need to dig further into Sweet Sonobe to make a plan for Sunday, unless I want to get out to Eclat des Jours, which didn't look quite as good, I think, but still worth visiting.

Aigre-Douce: Tarte au Caramel Salé and Mille-Feuille

I tried timing a run to a cake shop, pausing the timer when I had to pause for more than a couple seconds for lights (no map checking needed). Apparently took 36 minutes for 6 km there, which seems about right, as I was doing a pretty good pace for me. The run back with cake was similar, although I didn't run the full distance: stopped at a Lawson 100 for groceries and they were a little too heavy for running (or at least, it did not seem great for my shoulders). Timing seemed to motivate me to run hard. I was really tired and slept in the afternoon. I guess I better take it easy tomorrow (although that might just mean that I run slow).

One cake was Tarte au Caramel Salé (salted caramel tart). Besides the caramel, this has some chocolate and was great. The other cake was their mille-feuille. It's just a basic version without any fruit, nuts, or icing, but very good. It was a good choice as a second cake. They were 480 and 560 yen, although I don't know which was which.