Maison Douce: Macaron Chocolat Mon Amour

Le Poulpelin

Maison Douce, which I've only had two cakes from, though one was initially rated as great and got a first-round cake-off (neither was declared a win and I demoted both, the only time I've done that), so by in terms of a place where I might find a great cake, it has more potential than some supposedly excellent shops, so it was a high priority to resolve where the shop belongs among my grouping of Tokyo shops. Unfortunately, they are a minimum 35 kilometers out, they don't have eat-in space, and it is not weather for eating outside (see snow above), so I run there and take the train back. I did a 45 km run recently, no problem, so I figured that I would be fine as long as I kept at the same pace, but my right little toe is giving me trouble, and my whole foot tenses up trying to protect it. The shop last told me I need narrower shoes, which might be true once the swelling goes down. I wore new socks with toes this time, but that doesn't really help. I'll use a lot of petroleum jelly and consider taping it, though I'm not sure that I have the right kind of tape now.

Maison Douce: Macaron Chocolat Mon Amour

On the way, I stopped at Le Poupelin whose chef was on the NHK sweets show I started watching. I got a Chasson au pommes, which I'll say was excellent, though it's 27 km, so maybe not in a good position to judge. If I run that far to try them for cake, I think I'm going to get two.

As it happens, I'm probably not going to have to worry about how far out Maison Douce is. I really didn't like the chocolate in this. I suppose it's the chocolate whipped cream that makes for a really weak watery taste. I've had this experience before with chocolate cakes from specialists, so maybe it's just my physical condition. Still, it was ok, but ok isn't doesn't justify going anywhere. The shop still has some potential above shops that have given me nothing better than one excellent cake, but I don't expect it to make the cut to stay in quite good shops.

That clears some excellent shops, though now I saw some other partially challenged by Les Cacao and En Vedette. I hope I can get a visit to Les Cacao next weekend, even if I don't get cake there. Now, I'm really looking forward to a cake-off tomorrow, though reviewing, I'm convinced that Fondant Chocolat au Rouge is just a slightly differently decorated Foondant Chcolat aux Framboises from Yu Sasage, so I've got two choices from them to go against JPH. I need to ask tomorrow how long the two Yu Sasage cakes will stay in the lineup. I need to also review Numero 7 to see what's in it: maybe it's been give a more appropriate name and also can be found in Yu Sasage's line-up without me realizing it.