Le Jardin Bleu: Misérable

Got a second cake of Le Jardin BLue at Isetan and then did a training run in only like rain. This took three laps at Meiji Jingu Gaien, running 8 km/h there, alternating 300 m (7 times) at 10 km/h and 200 m at 8 km/h, but then I went too fast going home and have to count that as 10 km/h, but I'm still okay for this week's plan, since I already substituted out two laps around Akasaka Palace course for one lap and a short side trip for cake for one run this week.

The cake was Misérable (ミゼラブル; 432 yen) and I was expecting a rather plain cake. The description says it's dacquoise with buttercream filling as a traditional Austrian cake, but if you Google this name, it comes up Belgian, which makes more sense, since the name is French. I just had this cake type of cake from Échiré Maison du Beurre not long ago, and that one was not as good, as it was just very sweet buttercream. This one, the buttercream is praliné, with actual nut pieces and uses syrup, which has a more caramel flavor than just sugar, although the effect would perhaps be the same if they brushed some syrup on the dacquoise, which many recipes do (I've learned from experience baking). So it was excellent cake, and I could go back get another there tomorrow, to have three, which is my target now for excellent shops, but I have to rest from cake and running sometimes (actually, I'm hoping to make macarons tomorrow), so I'll just have to wait until either they come to Isetan again, or I get up to being able to run 60 km in a day (or admit that that's never going to happen and go by bicycle).

Le Jardin Bleu: Malagasy

Today, I ran to Tokyo Midtown first, just to extend my run (since I haven't run lately) and to make sure Henri le Roux doesn't have anything there I need to know about, which they didn't. The lights are up, although I don't get what's pretty about them (the ones on the smaller trees along the path to here look better than these).



Then I went back to the Meiji Gingu Gaien course and did two+ laps, alternating between 8 and 10 km/h, and then home. Total, it was about 10 km of running, with more than two-thirds at 8 km/h (everything before the laps plus the slow intervals), 1.8 km at 10 km/h (in 300 m intervals), and then the run from the end of the intervals to home at 9 km/h.

Cake was from Le Jardin Blue (ル・ジャルダン・ブルー), who are visiting Isetan from way out west in Tokyo. Only one type of fresh cake left at 7 pm (although there was some sort of pastry/tart thing) left, the Malagasy (マルガッシュ) for only 432 yen. This is a dense chocolate cake with dense ganache. Sites I saw while trying to figure out what the Japanese name might mean (it refers to people of Madagascar) claimed it was a French version of a Sacher Torte, but I'm not convinced. Anyway, it's pretty simple in its way, but it was actually exactly what I wanted (I'm kind of sick of my carob brownies, but that's okay, because I've finally used up the carob powder on the last batch). Since it's the first cake I've had from this shop and it passes the I'd-like-to-learn-to-make-this test, I'll say it's excellent, though it's not so different from similar cakes I've had from various places that I've given various ratings, probably. I should try Le Jardin Blue cake again while they are Isetan.