Cake-off: Atelier Kohta's Classic Chocolat over Ryoura's Mont-Blanc

Saturday, I ran out to Yoga again for a cake-off, this time for the Mont-Blanc for a third round between two one-and-one cakes. On the way, the stopped at Bigarreaux for a pastry, though they don't have much, instead making breads and meat pies. But they did have a Croissant, so I got that. It's on the bread side rather than pastry, but still well made and it was substantive rather than a soft hotel buffet style morning croissant, as I think of that type, so just good isn't so bad, if you're not looking for something sweet (though I am).

The other cake for this time was Atelier Kohta, which I first got 5 years ago, and it's probably been a couple years since it's cake-off (I have records, but don't bother to look). This is a Classic Chocolat (or at least that's how I recorded it), but if a different kind that my lass one. This is like a classic chocolate layer cake, but small. It was raining, so I walked, but it was enough.

Actually, these are both weak members of the great cakes (I didn't before the comparison, but wasn't surprised) who have one non-great evaluation. The Mont-Blanc is excellent, so I enjoyed having it again, but I still can't detect why I thought it was great. There was a period when I was just starting to get Mont-Blancs and I probably overcompensated then. Certainly, if Ryoura is in your neighborhood, it's a good choice, but I don't need in on my list. The Classic Chocolat makes me think of chocolate layer cake in the American mid-west. I manages to capture and probably improve on the basic taste in a tiny elegant form. I can't say that it is the style of cake I appreciate now, but it still has a place in my heart, so I'm keeping it in the greats list and giving it the win this time. Not sure Atelier Kohta actually has a new cake for me, though I've only had 4 from there: the shop only has about 4 cakes. I might end up giving something a second try.