Pierre Hermé, Tarte Infiniment Citron

Today I got my cake from Isetan first again and then went running. I planned to do a loop around the Akasaka Palace course at a constant level of effort with the idea of timing the different segments to see the proportions for designing a trainig run, since I'm going to go much fast on the down-slope parts than the up slope parts and the difference. However, I took a detour down to Tokyo Midtown after the first 550 m stretch and then returned, so I found myself far from sustaining the same level of effort and gave up at the north-most point, though I came by back streets that maybe did not save me any horizontal distance, although they limited the slopes. Today, I still did 8.4 km at around 9 km/h.

The cake was Tarte Infiniment Citron, which is a kind of lemon tart. Note sure what all the parts, but there are heavier layers as you go deeper, starting with a very light layer (but with a kind of crust, like on a macaron) on the outside and moving down to lemon custard or thick cream, with some lemon comfit mixed in. The little disk on top has a sort of lemon cross-section pattern on it and is hard (probably mostly sugar). The cake was excellent quality and I like lemon once in a while as something different, but next time I'll try to get the more obvious choice of Mille-feuille Caramel. I've got until the 26th, which should be enough time.

Noix de Beurre: Mille-feuille

Went to Isetan, thinking I was going to Morozoff, but remembered why this shouldn't be a priority: they don't have fresh cake (I like baked cheesecake, but, like pound cake, it not the same as "fresh/raw" cake, in the Japanese sense). Also, I need to buy a full 1000 yen pie-sized cake, so I'd rather wait until I'm buying for more than just myself, although it is something that having leftovers would be okay, so it's always available as a backup plan when I can't get anywhere else.

Instead, I followed up on getting a different cake from Noix de Beurre, so I made the safe choice and got their Mille-feuille (540 yen), which they don't assemble until you order it. This was excellent as expected as well as being reasonably priced and convenient to obtain, so more evidence that this shop/counter is quite good.

The run was going to the Akasaka Palace course to see whether I could manage 12 km/h. So I lasted all of 8 days before breaking my promise not to run hard when it's 5 deg out. What can I say, running is addictive and makes me do crazy things. But this time I took a day of rest since my long weekend runs, so I'm expecting to be okay. I only know the 1 km and 2 km marks for the course, so it's hard to pace myself. Plus, the slopes are not evenly distributed, so the goal isn't to keep a steady pace, but get head on the first half and not lose too much on the uphill parts in the second half (although there is also some downhill again). Since I wasn't really confident that I could make it, I just tried to run as fast as I thought I could keep up the full 3.3 km, based on how hard I was breathing compared to when I was doing 13 km/h last week. This meant about 4'30'' for the first kilometer, and maybe 4'45'' for the second. In the end, I finished before the target 16'30'', at 15'29'', which is actually above 12.5 km/h, so it's not impossible that I could do 13 km/h some day, but it's not seeming very likely and trying is not a priority.

Just as full disclose, on the "rest day", actually I had to do a couple hours overtime and I got a half of a Baguette Meule (I think) from Le Petit Mec, which was definitely good break, but not my favorite of theirs.

Jean-Paul Hévin: MOF2016

For New Year's Day, we went to the Omotesando Hills Jean-Paul Hévin, since they are open (many other places are quiet, but Harajuku to Omotesando was still full of crowds of people). Got both the cakes that are Jan. 1 to 10 only, the MOF2016 (714 yen + 8%) and the Mont(-Blanc) Fuji (637 yen + 8%). The new one, was the MOF2016, which got a little mangled trying to get it out of the box. There's still plastic around it that has to be peeled off, but as it took a little chocolate with it, it's just as well I took the photo first. It's got a top half of whipped cream and a bottom half that includes small pieces of maron (chestnut) confit and it's a nutty cake, generally, but what nut powders they used, I'm not sure. It's good, but not really special. The Mont Fuji, which I've blogged before, is confirmed to be special. Maybe by next year I'll get around to comparing it to other cakes that I've rated as great (surely, I'm getting close to running out of new/seasonal cakes, although I'm not sure what will appear Jan. 11 and I still need to get back to the Marunouchi Jean-Paul Hévin, which has a completely different selection of cakes).

The run was the Akasaka Palace course, with the goal of only a slight increase to 2 full laps (3.3 km/) at 11 km/h, since that's what fits in the budget. For this kind of training run, I'm trying to definitely get at least 11 km/h rather than just approximately, but I was above 11.5 km/h on the first lap, so it counts as 12 km/h for my budget. The next lap was a little slower, so walking home evened things out. This and the previous run indicate I need to up all my training speeds 1 km/h, although I'm not sure that I can actually get 12.0+ km/h for Akasaka Palace, but perhaps if I don't have to do a second lap I can make it. I should do the Imperial Moat course first, though: it's longer per lap, but definitely flatter (midway between Meiji Gingu Gaien and Akasaka Palace).

Asterisque: Rubio

Was back at Isetan today, for Asterisque, who is visiting from not that far away. I got their Rubio　(ルビオ, 590 yen), which is hazelnut mousse under chocolate glazing, accented with rum and raisin. Not that it is alcoholic tasting at all, but has a slight fruity flavor that I could not identify (sure, I read that it was rum raisin when I bought it, but after running, I couldn't remember one description from another, so I was half convinced there was a little orange in there instead, although I couldn't believe in the passion fruit that I remembered being paired with orange). The hazelnut as a mousse is not very strong, but definitely good, and it's not trying to be a kid's cake, although the decoration is a little over the top for me. Still, I'll say it's excellent and try to follow up on Asterisque soon. From what I remember, it's an elegant shop and it has a fairly good reputation online among Tokyo cake shops.



The run was 1 2/3 laps around Akasaka Palace and then to Lawson's 100 for groceries, for 6.4 km at 9 km/h (which is actually a floor rather than a ceiling value today, despite the hills), plus a kilometer or so at 8 km/h to get there to begin with. They were saying rain for tomorrow, and certainly cold, but I'll probably do a run down to Tokyo Midtown, just as something different, and then come home and bake, since I already got cake at Midtown Saturday without running.

A la Bonne Heure: Chocolat Chocolat

Took a chance, in the sense of worrying about my knee, and ran again today. Did a lap around Akasaka Palace again, only this time I stopped at Shirotae, where there was a line out the door (there's not a lot of space in there, even for a Tokyo Patisserie), so they are doing okay without my patronage. Instead, I went to A la Bonne Heure (where there were three other customers) and got their Chocolat Chocolat (486 yen) cake.

What can I say: it tasted just like it looks like it should, light and fluffy, highly diluted chocolate (by cream and air). I'd rather just have the chocolate and cream: at least then I could make some ganache, although it was probably milk chocolate to begin with, so maybe just each the chocolate and whipped the cream as topping for brownies, which I need to make tomorrow. Actually, I'd rather just have dinner and skip the cake, but, still, it was not worse than you would expect, so I'll call it marginally "good". It's a standard cake, so it was useful as a reference and I've had worse too many times.

The running was fine except it started raining lightly and I forgot to stick my umbrella back in my backpack after taking to work at lunch time (though I wouldn't have used it unless I had waited for cake at Shirotae). Also, haven't put my jacket back in since washing it, and I might have used that for the hood. I did have extra shirt, but didn't use it, so it wasn't that cold, around 12 degC. Total distance it was 7.2 km at around 8 km/h again and it involved four stair-climbs over pedestrian bridges and the same slopes as yesterday.

Homemade: 6 km around Akasaka Palace

Received food gift

Food-gifting escalated this week. It had started last spring with a simple scone/canelé encounter but a mini-macaron got out of my control and the return of a meringue-like almond cookie (but not sweet) and some sort of spice bread (banana?) forced me to retaliate with 4 mini-canelé. I'm hoping for a truce now, although there are rumors of another front opening around Christmas with a stollen attack. (I'm happy to try a new dessert.)

On the running front, had a scare yesterday with my knee. Not a good day, but woke up okay. Didn't decide until the last minute whether to run and still wasn't sure at the beginning and end whether that was a good idea (but the middle seemed okay). Just over 6 km, including the Akasaka Palace loop, all just under 8 km/h average (although with overpass stairs and more slopes than usual).

I've still got around 10 mini-canelé, but I should try to improve my carob brownies to make them less brick-like, such as reducing the carob a little, increasing the butter, and cooking a little less. Also, less mixing.

Akasaka Palace course and homemade cream cheese frosting brownies

Decided to rest yesterday, to stay within my running budget both today and Saturday (because I ran fairly long Sunday). I need the kilometers today, because I had a grand plan to run 16 km to a cake shop, but something actually important came up, so I didn't get out running until after 8 pm. I've not very flexible: once I decide what cake I want, I don't want to change to anything else, although I could have gone to Piece Montee, I realized as I started, but given that I was expecting heavier wind (although not the little rain I saw), I probably would have still stuck with my actual substitute plan even if I had thought of Piece Montee earlier. I wanted to do 3 fast laps around the Akasaka Palace course, which I did: 1.46 km slow getting there, three 3.3 km laps, the first two just barely fast and the last desperate one actually decently fast, and then 1.46 km very slow and bouncy home, which worked well to loosen up my back, I think. I've feeling very relaxed now.

But no cake. I made brownies again yesterday, this time reducing the cooking time 10%, so the middle was visibly less baked than the outside, and I frosted them with cream cheese frosting, which was wonderful the first couple, but the novelty has worn off by now, so it's just as well that there is only one left for tomorrow (I'll have half at lunch, maybe, and half when I get home before working out). Since I didn't get cake today, I'll get cake from Isetan tomorrow if I can, despite not running tomorrow (so as not to mess up a Saturday morning long run).

Henri le Roux and Akasaka Palace laps.

Bought cake first and then went home and did laps.

The laps were around Akasaka Palace, which is a 3.3 km course and has the most slope for the distance of anywhere I run regularly. I initially thought that I should do 3 or 4 laps for a long run, but of course, that takes time and I had work today and will work tomorrow. I went fast and recorded a good time for 2 laps, so I considered quitting there, but it's hard to stop once you get going, so I split the difference and did 3 laps for the first time and left 4 laps for a different day. Four laps around Akasaka Palace is the same distance as 10 laps around Meiji Gingu Gaien, but the Akasaka course is hilly and farther away, and so is tougher.

Times were 17'06''81, 17'21''75, and 18'14''90. The last up-slope was tough to stay running at the beginning, and obviously my time increased a lot for the last lap. I'll probably have to start slower if I want to improve my 3-lap average, or at least to bring down my maximum lap-time for a 3-lap run. As it was, I didn't break my record for 1 lap, but went from under 20' to under 17'30'' for 2 laps (each and average), and got 3 laps under 18'30'' each and 18' average, which is pretty good.

My motivation for wanting a long run to begin with was holiday weight gain. My scale says that my body fat percentage is not up, but I don't trust its reliability for that (it consistently goes down several percent between morning and night, which seems unlikely, but I don't know how much it natural varies during the day).

Since the first cake was great, I went back to Henri le Roux at Isetan for a second type: Mousse aux Chocolat Madagascar for 540 yen. I'm not sure whether the chocolate is from the company Chocolat Madagascar or is just made from Madagascar chocolate. It's mousse, but between layers of dense, finely layered biscuit. It was very good and I'm going to say it was great, although it's a little subtle, which is nice sometimes.

If I find a third great cake there, I'll designate them great, but they don't have that many more kinds of cake (everything else was sold out today, but I got the one I was after), so it will be tough. Of course, the Tokyo Midtown shop has great Kouign Amann, so it could give them a "great" for that, but it's not cake and is at a separate location, so I'll leave them as "worthy" with a special note to visit the Tokyo Midtown shop for the Kouign Amann.

Akasaka Palace and Del'Immo: Cassis Chocolat

Went to the Akasaka Palace loop to set a benchmark time for 1 lap. Getting there and back and taking another lap around to get cake at Del'Immo, it totaled 9 or 10 km of running, which is not a lot, but that 1 lap I ran pretty hard, so I'm plenty tired. Managed just under 16'51'' for 3.3 km. Getting cold with just a shirt and super light summer jacket though, once I slow down for the rest of the run, anyway, so I need to add a layer now, I think (or wear one of my cheap heavy jackets).

At Del'Immo, I got the Cassis Chocolat, which is what it sounds like. Just seeing all those fancy cakes made me happy. So different from the new shops that I visited last weekend. The cake was 540 yen, has cassis mousse, chocolate mousse, and chocolate biscuit. Reading online, it says it is perfect with wine (or whisky), which is what I had decided when eating it, so I guess it's common sense. The chocolate is not that strong compared to the cassis, which is okay. They give percentages of chocolate, and this one is only 40%, although that is higher than my last cake from there. This cake was very good, so I'll keep them as a shop of special interest. I'm behind on that category compared to the great shops in terms of numbers of cakes blogged (I figure 1:2 proportion would be good).

Since I was satisfied with this one, I can try a new (or at least not posted about) shop next rather than needing to do a great shop. If the rain holds out, I'll go down to Hiroo, but otherwise I'll visit Isetan and see if I can resist the great shops to get something from somewhere different.

Akasaka laps and Sébastien Bouillet: Tarte Tatin Yuzu

I think I've only ever timed one lap around Akasaka Palace. Today was just two laps. Since it is a 3.3 km course, 20 min seemed a modest goal and I got the modest times of 19'36'' and 19'44'' for the two laps, which was a little disappointing but I was not running really hard. The differences from Meiji Gingu Gaien are that it is a longer course, it has a lot more grade to it ("saka" being "hill"), and it's a little farther to get there to begin with. I'm still stiff since the last time I was running fast, weeks now, but I should be able to do better. I might only raise the bar to 19'30''/lap, but simultaneously see whether I can do that for 3 laps, either of which goals will have me working harder. I definitely feel like I ran today, so I was not taking it easy by any means.

Cake was obtained ahead of time from (Sébastien) Bouillet at Isetan, Shinjuku. I haven't blogged them and I haven't bought from them much or at all recently, partially because I had a bad service experience buying a macron once, although I should maybe blame Isetan rather than this patissier/chocolatier. The cake was Tarte Tatin Yuzu for 496 yen, which is a fancy apple tart. The tart base is a little flaky and seems to be a yuzu-flavored butter tart, although the yuzu was very subtle. The top is baked apple, like you would have in a pie, but well baked. It was good, so I'll mark them as worthy of attention (and because of their convenience to me).

I haven't given up on great cake shops, and hope to get down to Lettre d'Amour this weekend, since I changed my plan to go their last weekend and now they are my least visited.

Running and Patisserie Noix de Beurre fraise chantilly

Today I got cake first, from Noix de Beurre (ノワドゥブール at Isetan. The fraise chantilly (フレーズ・シャンティ) is basically a French short cake, only they don't dump the cream on it and add the strawberry on top and side until you order it (although it was still a couple hours before I ate it). It is 648 yen, so it is relatively expensive for their things. They are basically an in-house unit of Isetan rather than an outside shop like many of the counters there. I'm not a big fan of short cake, but this is great cake from a great shop. Plus just this cake was enough to make me feel very full after running (which does not tend to expand my stomach), probably because of all the cream, although I recovered in a hour for pizza, no problem.

Before eating it, I went for the run, which is a little dangerous, because my motivation is weaker and I wonder why do I run, can I just give it up forever now? After some warm-up running, I did my first lap around the Meiji Jingu Gaien, near where I usually start, and that problem was solved. I stopped between laps (all I had to time myself was my flip phone). Did 7:13, 6:30, and 6:27 times and thought, "Eh, I have to go again?" (since I hadn't gotten my best yet) and decided I wasn't going around a fourth time today. The track is just short of 1.4 km, so not that long but not a sprint. Next I jogged over to Akasaka Palace and did a lap around that in 18:54 as a benchmark for future runs. Apparently, it is 3.3 km around, plus it's not a flat course, so even if you don't do +5 km first, it's more challenging. If the weather holds (and they're warning that it may not be safe out in the evening), then I'll try a hill-focused run tomorrow.