Sadaharu Aoki, Flan Nature

Thursday, since they are a priority shop in terms of not having enough new cakes, I get another new cake from Sadaharu Aoki at Marunouchi. This was Flan Nature. I didn't have high expectations, being just custard, but having a wonderful vanilla flavor, it was excellent (and relatively cheap).

Though this is from Friday, I'll also give a mention to Échiré and these Sablé Sandwiches, which were at least good. Can't say I've rated them carefully, but I definitely liked the Pistache the best. These are from (Shinjuku) Isetan. Not really that cheap: about half a cake each, though that's true of most non-cake things.

Pierre Gagnaire: Green Tea and White Chocolate Cake

Leading text. Thursday was a holiday, as part of a four-day weekend prepared for the Olympics. I used it to visit Pierre Gagnaire and get their other new cake, Green Tea and White Chocolate Cake, which follows the same literal naming as the other cake; can't say that I mind. In fact, I started the next week's cakes early, but I expected to be busy two days, and did not actually have any cake then. White chocolate seems a much better pairing with matcha than blond chocolate, and this was excellent. There might have been some sort of custard in the middle, or maybe it was just cream. Anyway, excellent cake. It was raining, so I walked there and continued on for a second stop. This actually brings this shop level with quite exceptional shops, as far as new cake count, and it maintained its rating edge, so Lenôtre loses it's place, as expected.

Bien-Étre, Mangu

Sunday afternoon, went out by bicycle to see what was available at shops, as well as do some cross-training. The first stop was PS, where there was a line outside and nothing new visible through the window, so I didn't wait. No surprise there. The second stop was Bien-Étre, where I wasn't expecting anything, but mango had come into season, which included Mangu, so I used up my week's cake allotment. This cake was excellent, with the base sable's strong flavor memorable. BE remains at the top of the quite exceptional shops.

At the beginning of the trip, I stopped at Nikka Block Cafe and got their sable. I didn't stop and eat it until just after buying the above cake, but I really needed it. It was excellent, so I should try their eat-in cake some time. They still close fairly early for weekdays, but they are a neighborhood priority. Meant to do a long run in the evening, scaled it down, then found that I could keep to the route, so I gave up pretty early. My muscles felt energetic, but mentally perhaps I had had enough exercise for the day. If only rotating images was still an option with Blogger (or my phone or Google wouldn't automatically rotate them versus how I took them to begin with).

Sadaharu Aoki, Mille-Feuille Mâtcha

The second stop Sunday morning was Sadaharu Aoki, in Marunouchi. It's taken three and a half months to get this year's exclusive cake, Mille-feuille Matcha, so I was happy to get it. The filling is matcha custard. I could find that it was an improvement, nor was it a huge difference, but it's still an excellent mille-feuille. 

Pierre Gagnaire, Green Tea Tart

Last Sunday, I found more cakes than I expected. First, I didn't expect Pierre Gagnaire's bakery and pastry shop in the ANA International Hotel to have any new cakes this month, but they had two among their small line-up, bumping their great chocolate and yuzu mousse cake, though they still had the large version. Everything is also still 20% off. More people over there, though the hotel is not crowded compared to the past. I went with what is easy to guess is the Green Tea Tart. They seem to stick to simple English for the main name; the Japanese description is matcha and blond blond chocolate, which is caramelized white chocolate. Can't say that blond chocolate seems like a good idea to me, even after this excellent tart.

Speaking of matcha, Sadaharu Aoki had another new pastry, and I keep trying them. This time it was Croissant Mâtcha aux Amonde. It was good, but too wet for my tastes in almond croissants. Let me also say, that Blogger updated their editor to some buggy thing hates images (won't let me move them next to text, and trying to makes mousse clicks into backspaces) and labels, which I'm going to have to add after publishing. 

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Théatre over Au Bon Vieux Temps's Marjolaine

Saturday morning was rain, so I went for a walk to Jiyuugaoka for cake-off cake. I used a compact umbrella, but it didn't stop before I got cake, so I kept using it. At Paris S'éveille, I got their Théatre. Didn't look like they were open for eat-in under current conditions, but that was okay. No wait (unlike when I looked in there Sunday afternoon). From there, it's not such a long walk to Au Bon Vieux Temps, where I got their Marjolaine, a classic. These are both three time winners in a fourth-round cake off, though three wins isn't really so much, so it might be more chance than anything, though they've definitely proved themselves as great. It was hard to decide between these until the last couple bites, and then it was definitely the multiple textures and chocolates of Théatre: it was melty from the beginning, but actually that turned out to not be bad. Seems like you want to eat this on the edge of collapsing. No big shop that PS is dominates, as this is the second of only three 4-time winners so far and they have the most three-to-one cakes as well, though I'm not sure how many of those are in the line-up right now.

Sadaharu Aoki, Pêche Verveine

Anxious to get beyond recent disappointments, I got one cake a head during last week, which was a hard week, and went to Isetan and got their Pêche Verveine, which has been a new cake for a while. Like other new cakes, this differs from the their classic shape. In fact, though flat, it is rather peach-like, apparently flavored with the herb verneine, which the Japanese know by the name lemon beebush; it's South American. Anyway, I'd have to have this cake again to catch it, which would be okay, as this was excellent. The texture is somewhat peach-like as well, being semisolid and moist (with peach cream as well as confit), though balanced by the sable base. Sadaharu Aoki manages to stay above its challengers.

Dalloyau: Coccinelle

I'm leading with the cake from Wednesday, when I reached my cake limit for the week. This is Coccinelle, which is French for the obvious. It is not a mousse dome, but rather than chocolate cake around chocolate and vanilla cream. It's good, in a basic way, but really you're paying for the the design, which is not what I want cake for. This drops Dalloyau down low enough that it's definitely hot challenging Sadaharu Aoki any more, though it will again unless Sadaharu Aoki can get a great cake first.

On Tuesday, I got out early enough to visit a new place on my (new) neighborhood routes: Kitasandou Coffee. I don't drink coffee, but they advertised sweets, so I got a Florentin Fruit, which is more confection than cookie, if that makes sense. Anyway, very high sugar. It was good, though.

Dalloyau, Triangle Citron

The other cake I got last Sunday, also at Ginza Mitsukoshi, was Triangle Citron. According to the brief description on Facebook, it's lemon mousse, solidified, which I guess is possible, though mousse and solidified doesn't really go together in my mind. Anyway, the resulting texture is not so exciting and lemon mousse by itself is apparently really weak, so I can't recommend this cake for anyone. It doesn't taste bad (so it's okay), but I regret eating it, much less buying it. Still, Dalloyau had one great cake recently, just is enough to give them one more chance to stay in play for promotion.

Frédéric Cassel, Savarin Orange

Sunday, I was right back to Ginza Mitsukoshi, since Frédéric Cassel won the cake-off, and anyway, are top of the shops with new cakes. I went with the Savarin Orange, so no alcohol. Though orange, it has lime juice to make it more tropical. Inside is vanilla cream, but on top is the staple mascarpone cream on top of the orange. They recommend with tea, which works for me. This was excellent, fortunately, and certainly better than the previous savarin I had from their neighbor counter, though it might have had more volume (though at greater price). This restores them to the the current target level, though the target is about to get raised, and they're at the top, so they will probably get another cake this weekend, though 

I'll say ahead of time that I got one cake ahead on Thursday this week, whereas last week I was one behind, so there will be at least one cake less this weekend. 

I should mention that I also got a second pastry from Johan, a Pain au Chocolat, and it was good, but nothing memorable. They used to have a super decadent version that also had pistachio when they had a Shinjuku shop, but I haven't seen it in Ginza.

Dalloyau, Fromage Frais

The other cake I got while I was a Mitsukoshi on Saturday as a cake from a challenger to the quite superb category, Dalloyau. Of course, they are an old shop depending on a reputation from a few years back, but they are getting their chance to make their mark again. The old main cheesecake (at least excellent) was retired and replaced by Fromage Frais. Unfortunately, the freshness doesn't really come through enough to make up for the general blandness. It is good, but in keeping with the cakes that have kept me away in recent years.

En Vedette, Citronné

Saturday, after a morning appointment, I ran down to Shibuya Scramble Square (the building) and visited En Vedette, where I got Citronné. I had had a cake similar to this, so I worried that I was working with an out-of-date list, but I was right to remember that the other one was strawberry, not lemon (I assume from the shape and name). the cake inside is fairly dense and is layered, despite the round appearance on the outside, so not a mousse or a typical lemon tart. In the end, I decided it was a nice change in lemon and rated it excellent. This brings En Vedette up to the level of a quite exceptional shop, so I can finally promote them, which means that Ryoura gets demoted down to just exceptional and they'll have to wait for a cake-off win probably for another visit from me, since I've had a good sample from them.

On the way BE from there, I stopped at Path and got a Croissant, since the Pain au Chocolat was great. The Croissant, however, didn't seem like anything special, though it suffered from not being as freshly baked as the former (though it was still warm).

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Choux Vanille over Lenôtre's Feuille d'Automne

I got my cakes out of the order that I ate them, but figure I should report in order. So there was running to get the first cake bought, down to Shibuya Sta. and Shibuya Scramble Square, where I got a cake from En Vedette to confirm their promotion, and then tried to get a new cake from BE, but whereas there were two about a week ago, they've regressed back to the basics (or the season for the other two cakes ended), and I got nothing. At that pointed, I needed to get the first cake home, so I used the train, but since the route had me almost to Ginza anyway, I decided to continue there and get all my other cakes for the day rather than go home, run all the way back to Ginza and take the train again anyway. It was there that I got Frédéric Cassel's Choux Vanille and Lenôtre's Feuille d'Automne, which I have both down for as first sample in July (two and one year ago), for a fourth-round cake-off between two-time winners. These are both clearly great cakes, and I could have them again next week, no problem, so it's a shame that under the current system I'll have to wait a year. Anyway, no knockouts, so I have to make a judgement and I'll decide similarly to what I have in the past: the Feuille d'Automne suits my sweet tooth and has great texture, but the simply Choux Vanille is the only great Choux I know, and manages it will a simple form, so it has to get the win.

In Ginza Mitsukoshi news, the Sadaharu Aoki counter now has four of their cakes. Not sure whether this was true Saturday, but I saw it Sunday, so I'll note it now.

Frédéric Cassel, Fleur de Shuro

Catching up for the week, Wednesday, I got out to Ginza Mitsukoshi for a new cake from Frédéric Cassel. There were three choices, and I went for the one most against my preference, just because it was most different and FC is good at overcoming my prejudices. I got the Fleur de Shuro, or that's that I think it was, where shuro is the name of a genus of Asian palms, which doesn't really make sense in context. This is a good solid almond biscuit, which is really important for balance and texture against all the soft parts. Obviously, it's a gelatin dome, though the inside isn't so gelatinous.  There's streusel in there, obviously not dry, cherry compote, cherry mousse, and cherry cream (cherries are Western and Eastern), and elderflower is the other flavor, which I hope was inside, as I didn't eat the decoration (I've been burned in the past). On the edge of my comfortable zone, and yet it all works together, as a different kind of cake, to give an excellent result.

No running, just bicycling to Mitsukoshi and doing muscle training inside, which I've managed to do every weekday so far. Thursday I didn't get patisserie cake, but I did managed to run 45 minutes as well as 15 minutes muscle training (squats, curls, and shoulder and back exercises).

Pierre Hermé, Elena

Tuesday, I worked relatively late but got to Isetan in time. I still owed Pierre Hermé a new cake, so I chose the Elena without knowing anything about it but that it was different and had pistachios. Actually, it's based on a traditional Italian cake of ricotta cheese with a fruit juice soaked sponge, cassata, which sounds less exciting. Of course, I wanted a great cake, but rarely get it. I was hoping for excellent while I ate it and thought maybe it would be justified, but in the end I'm satisfied having had a good cake and learning something new about sweets. I still remain too far ahead on this shop and it's dangerously low as far as ranking, so it could be under threat again soon, but it will probably hang on for a while as one the superb Tokyo cake shops. It's still got at least one more cake-off coming this year, even if one of the couple great tarts I'm looking for from them doesn't reappear soon.

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Addiction over Dalloyau's Trois Chocolat

Not a lot to say. I did some neighborhood running in the afternoon, working on a new major park route as far as north Sendagaya. Not that many parks qualify, but it takes me to some neighborhoods that the cake shop route doesn't and takes a different path. In the evening, I ran to Ginza Mitsukoshi and despite the late hour managed to score cakes for a cake with the seasonal cake Addiction by Frédéric Cassel and the newly confirmed replacement standard chocolate cake from Dalloyau, Trois Chocolat. I say confirmed, because just because their own standard was great doesn't mean the new version has to be, but it was and I still felt it in this cake-off. However, Addiction is much more attractive, as well as being one of the few tropical cakes that I think is great (PS has one, but it's dropped off the line-up, despite being featured on the cover of a book). Unfortunately, I don't have another first-round winner to test Addiction against right now. I'll just have to hope for a couple more great cakes to come along. I do now have two standard line-up first-round losers, so if I get another seasonal cake like that, I'll be ready. Otherwise, I'll hold off for awhile before I revisit them, since they are both from this year.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Verrine Lavande & Verrine Banane Griotte

Sunday afternoon, as brunch dessert, we got cake for two from Jean-Paul Hévin: Verrine Lavande & Verrine Banane Griotte, the new new items. The first is white chocolate, lavender, and grapefruit, and the second is Dominican chocolate, banana sauce, and cherry. Neither are really my ideal flavors. The verrine Lavande was good, but pretty mind, though you wouldn't really want intense grapefruit or lavender, I would think, so this was as designed and offered a variation over the other cake, which is sweet, and the verrine not ordered, which is coffee and presumably bitter. Despite continued reservations about banana, this was excellent. I have to acknowledge that it's not the fruit, but how it's used that's important. This at least catches me up with JPH's last cake-off wins. 

Dalloyau, Trois Chocolat

Wednesday July 1st was the only weekend new cake, and even that was somewhat of a cheat. SA has been introducing a lot of new cakes that don't really match their classics and slipped enough that it was Dalloyau's chance to challenge, based on several good cakes from years ago, before who ever is in charge now. Anyway, Dalloyau got a new cake, which was Trois Chocolat. Now, other than the name and design on top, it might be exactly the same as the old L'Echiquier, which was great, though never won a cake-off in two rounds. This was also great, as a creamy milk chocolate cake. This is enough to put it at the top of the superb shops and maintain it's challenge of Sadaharu Aoki. Sneaky, but successful, and I'm happy to finally have a stable new great cake for cake-offs.

Paris S'éveille, Tarte Rhubarbe Orange

Sunday, I went out to get a new cake from a superb shop, specifically, Tart Rhubarb Orange, or maybe they used French spelling. You aren't allowed to take pictures. The tart seemed to be pistachio.

On the way, I hit a local shop in the Jinguumae/Kita-Aoyama area north of Omote-Sandou Sta., which was actually not that far out from home, though that's why it's a high-priority area. They had a selection of 7 kinds of baked goods. I went with the Matcha Donut. It was good. It was a quite moist (but not wet) cake donut. The other things were similarly vegan pseudo-healthy things. Though the staff was Japanese, when spoke English to me, the website shows a young Euro-looking family of three, and the person behind me was a young white woman, which is a tough market segment in this travel environment. Just because of their selection, and the college-aged English speaking Japanese staff, I wonder whether they are related to the folks to took over the bakery Tournage one running neighborhood loop to the north, who were also doing the vegan baked good things. They had a kitchen, though it's the middle of Tokyo, so it wouldn't be hard to move containers of small baked goods from any of hundreds of shops. Anyway, one shop to visit down, and I found another one I hadn't recorded one building further along (I knew they sound some coffee, as well as whatever their main thing was, but I hadn't noticed the baked goods before).

The tart reminded me of rhubarb pie, which my mother frequently made but I did not appreciate, so it was usually made at the sime time apple pie was made. It was good, but too much of what I'm not interested in. I have no memory already of what running if any I did. It was a lot of walking carrying cake and an umbrella, so probably I didn't.

the whatever spelling they are using. . Actually, I intended to get them from two, but it didn't work out. It was raining, so I went walking with an umbrella.