Frédéric Cassel, Pavlova Fraise

I had the afternoon off, so after a little running (about 1 km, which is the most I'm trying in a given day), I did a long walk to Ginza, which I got a new cake from Frédéric Cassel in response to their cake-off win. I got Pavlova Fraise, the first pavlova I've had from them. Best guess as this will become the new base cake for the monthly theme. Compare to other pavlova, they went light on the meringue, which is reasonable, and more healthy. Instead, it featured more cream, which they say leans toward cheese, which I could see. The fruit is strawberry compote with a hint of balsamic vinegar, so that's new in my ingredients labels. I'll say that it was excellent and look forward to other flavors, if this is a series.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Bûchette Pop Music and Bûchette Victor

I got ahead with the second cake (but the following week I'm busy), but I got the two individual Christmas cakes from Bûchette Pop Music, Bûchette Victor (the third design is just the first one below with a different color, though the large scale cakes with the correspond themes are different from each other and from these individuals). I got these when I was in Ginza Sunday morning, reasoning that it was my best opportunity to avoid long lines and them selling out and that both are robust enough that a day at zero degrees in the cooler isn't going to hurt them.

There was half an hour of running, dancercise, and other indoor exercises, as usual. I had the Bûchette Victor first, the second one below, which is mango, like the full-sized version, and I think another fruit, though I can't remember what. The fruit wasn't so strong and it wasn't so exciting, though of course it has all the quality JPH parts of biscuit and mousse, so it was good. I liked the Bûchette Pop Music much more. It's suppose to be pistachio, and it has it's own posting on the web page (not sure why the other doesn't), but it tastes like whisky to me, or at least what cakes that say they have whisky taste like, which is all I have to go by. Anyway, the flavor went with the chocolate and nuts well, along with the texture and it was an excellent cake, as I would expect.