Éclat des Jours: Baked Cheesecake

As planned, I did a cycling visit to Éclat des Jours Monday, but they did not have the expected cake (it seemed overly summery, so I'm surprised that it lasted through November). Instead, I got the Baked Cheesecake. I had low expectations, but it was great, an experience I've had with other cakes of theirs. It was fruity, with some citrus taste but obviously some other fruit adding flavor, like cassis or blueberry. I'll have to go back to find out, as I didn't visually examine it that closely enough or read the card closely (I didn't expect to want to know much beyond baked cheesecake). It makes me think of the more decadent American style rather than the types I usually get Fred Cassel or Pierre Hermé, so I assume that means lots more sugar. It's somehow richer and more airy at the same time. I'll have to update this when I go back to get this for a cake-off, though that probably won't be until next year.

Tuesday, I did actual running for the first time since last Thursday (though I did hiking in the hills Saturday and less vigorously Sunday. I went to P. Shima to get the first pastry for this week. They close at 7 pm, so I had to rush: 11 km/h there and 10 km/h back, though it's only about 2 km each way. I followed this up by filling up the hour with running over the west Yotsuya neighborhood course, which is essentially the first one, or at least one endpoint of the current string of 7 that I've tentatively learned. I didn't do all of it, just enough to see whether I remembered it. I'll avoid reviewing the map before I go again and finish from where I left off, but I was okay on main outer loop, though I think I'm going to drop a small bit that swings through an alley that just for the sake of minimizing overlap in the course, because it's not lit well enough at night and I'm sure nobody wants me back there anyway. I might reform other parts, based on my more recent philosopher of course making, though I'll wait until I complete it. I know there's a big loop at the other end of the course that could be avoided if I was willing to double back or overlap more.

The pastry was a Pain au Chocolat, which was great, even though it is hard to say that there was anything special about it except that it was exactly what I wanted. I'll work my way up to one-on-one comparisons, but I'm not ready to do pastry-offs yet.

(Sat.) Éclat des Jours: Tarte Citron

Yesterday, I went out by bicycle and first again went to Éclat des Jours in response to their cake-off win. Unfortunately, they don't add new cakes very frequently, so it the pretty much the same old stuff that I've already had 9 cakes from. However, I've only had one of their several tarts, so I went with Tarte Citron. This is a little tough to evaluate, because though I like this type of tart, my interest in fruit tarts is still limited. This one was definitely good, and after long deliberation, I decided that it probably should qualify as excellent, so I'm going with that, which ups their numerical rating somewhat. Maybe I'll try the pistachio and cherry with coconut cream éclair next time. I ate it outside in the nearby park. Notice that they gave me a completely unnecessary spoon-like utensil. Of course, some tarts do break apart when cut or bit into, but this one could be eaten with one's hands (plus, I have extra utensils that I carry for the very reason that places sometimes give you things without asking).

Just because it's a noticeable landmark along the way, I took a picture of the "Wise Owl Hostels". I'm a little far away from it, but the lamppost tends to block letters of the sign from the next nearer corner.

The rest of the day was cycling to Jiyuugaoka, then Youga, and then in a sharp >-shaped course back to a little north of Youga (I was making good distance, so I didn't stop to check my map to see why I wasn't arriving somewhere familiar faster). The only useful information I got was that Bigarreaux finally has their specialty Le Plaisir in their line-up so that I can do a cake-off with it. It's probably also not a coincidence that they visit Isetan again from this coming Wednesday, so I think I'll do a midweek Cake-off this week with it and a JPH cake (I've got four of them available that I haven't done yet) and then maybe use the weekend to head somewhere new. There may also be some pseudo-new shops this month, as I get cakes from shops on my neighborhood map that I've never actually posted on, which I just did with Nana Gâteaux, which I had not known existed. Both Joshi+ and Sweet Sonobe seem to be off on posting about cakes, so all I've got is Isetan's visiting shops for info on new cake shops, and they tend to be the same old places.