Éclat des Jours, Tarte aux Fruits

While I was visiting Éclat des Jours for a cake for a cake-off, I also got a new cake for their previous cake-off win. My choice was between a tart and a glass dessert, so I went with the latter, even though it obviously wasn't a great back for me. Specifically, I got the Tarte aux Fruits. It's not the first time I've had this kind of tart. The good point is it features various kinds of small fruits, all high quality. The bad point is that's about all there is to it and I'm not sure a connoisseur of fruits. Still it was good. 

Éclat des Jours: Tarte myrtille

Started a little late, but it was cool, so I ran probably as fast as I ever had to Yoso, 12 km/h average (certainly that speed at the beginning, although I had some timing problems, just because I was stopping and starting suddenly, as the opportunity to cross the street became available), but still about 8 km/h coming back, under increasing rain.

As expected Éclat des Jours' selection was very limited, in terms of fresh cake (there were several attractive pastries), so I took the only thing available, the Tarte Myrtille (453 yen). Unfortunately, bilberries are not very exciting. The tart was competent but did not really do anything to overcome the limitations of bilberries and in the end I find that I can't rate it higher than ok, which ends Éclat des Jours' run at being promoted to a Superb shop.

I'll just have to explore other candidates. Guess I'll have to check whether Ryoco has three cakes that I'd like to try, since they have a three-cake minimum, though of course I could try to time a visit there when I can share. Before that, though, Yu Sasage is at Isetan starting Wednesday, so I'll probably take advantage of that.

Éclat des Jours: Baba au Rhum

Typhoon coming this way and the rain started as I was leaving work and peaked at about midway of my run out to Éclat des Jours (not that the typhoon had passed; the center will arrive around 9 am, last I heard). It was not great for visibility, though not a big deal running along the inner moat. It had mostly stopped by the top I crossed the main bridge and parts of the sidewalk were dry by the time I was coming back (it's night, but lots of stored heat, even on a cloudy day).

Not my fastest time, but the run to Toyo is mostly about energy conservation with respect to stoplights. Still, I needed to get there before they closed, so I still managed  about 10 km/h out and had energy for 9 km/h back. As I said last time, I'm running out of options. Basically, my choice at the end of the day is the least favorite of the standards and some tarts (as well as desserts in glasses, i.e., parfaits and verrines). This time, I went with the Baba au Rhum (486 yen). Though I previously could not see the merit of these as cakes, I've come around, so it's not so shocking that this was excellent, given the source (or than I ran a half marathon to get it, which maybe makes a difference).

Éclat des Jours: Forêt Noire

Another cloudy day where rain was promised in the evening and didn't come, though it was cool enough that I was probably better off that way. Did the Éclat des Jours run again. Was just above 10 km/h out and 8 km/h back (little below 11 km each way), which is about perfect. I'm spending less time racing where I can't make the light, although lots of running lately meant that I was not as fast where elsewhere where I could have gone faster.

Since I arrive near closing time, I'm running low on options at Éclat des Jours. This time I went with the Forêt Noire, which was a familiar sight there. This is chocolate whipped cream with a couple cherries on chocolate cake on whipped cream with cherries on a bottom of chocolate cake. It was good as a light chocolate cake goes (I was careful to let it have a few minutes to warm up after taking it from the refrigerator, because that's what you're supposed to do with whipped cream), but would have been better without the cherries in my opinion, as expected, which is why I had been avoiding this one. However, this shop remains my top Quite Excellent shop and I need one shop from this group, so I'll be back there in about a week and a half (I'm busy the end of next week). Eventually, I may need to go there on non-workday to get access to the full range, but first I'll try a Monday again (I suspect the odd Tuesday's that they are open are the best day to visit, but I just went, so I won't try that next week).

Éclat des Jours: Chokochoko

Did my sixth run to Éclat des Jours for Chokochoko (French pronunciation, "shokoshoko"; 596 yen). It rained just before I ran, so the temperature dropped 10 degC, though it increased afterward and still was humid. Still, better than recently and, more importantly, I seem to have finally recovered from my tail soreness. Actually, this might have been the fastest I've done this run, though I was still going too fast through the middle, wasting effort for stop lights that I'll never make.

I've been disappointed in in sufficiently chilled mousse cake, so I might have gone too far this time. It did not freeze, but I'm not sure that the vanilla center should have been semi-solid rather than creamy. Still, I preferred this to too melty and am declaring this excellent. There is some crunch in the base, as their should be for a mousse cake, and a some berry mixed into the chocolate to just slightly modify the flavor. I'm thinking blackberry, but the time from getting the cake to eating it was more than 2.5 hours, so it's too hard to hang onto the details during a 10.5 return run, so it might have been raspberry. Either way, it harmonized and remained a very chocolate cake.

Éclat des Jours: Caramel Poire

It's hot, though my bigger problem running is still my sore backside (cycling Sunday apparently was not helpful, though not a problem at the time). Still, after the run, it feels much better, so it still seems to be a muscle issue and not something more serious. Not sure of my exact time going out, but the speed was very close to 9.5 km/h, but probably under. Overall the 21 km averaged on the low side of 9 km/h, which could have been worse. This was a run out to Éclat des Jours for a fifth cake, and I got Caramel Poire (486 yen), just based on it being next in line besides the one with coffee, even though it's not something I would expect to like.

It was about what I expected, though definitely good from the start: it's soft cream layers, gelatinous enough to say together, with a good deal of pear. In the end, though, I found myself thinking it was excellent. Still not a kind of cake that I'm very interested in, but I wouldn't mind having (though not planning to have) it again and it wouldn't be a waste of time to learn to make. Don't know why I'm so apparently biased for this place. Perhaps, it's the effort that goes into getting the cake or just that I eat the cake in the comfort of my home with tea after a lot of hard work.

Stopped by Viron on my way and learned that Mille-feuille is available in general (though sold out again), but I missed my chance for Fraise in May and now will have to wait until December. It's looking like the next cake-off will be a mille-feuille battle, which should keep the run relative short.

Éclat des Jours: Odile

Did my fourth run to Éclat des Jours, so I'm starting to learn the tricks, like run fast enough after being stopped at a light to get through two lights but don't waste energy on the third unless there are three close together, because it's the main road and I cannot run as fast as a car to make timed lights. Also, I may have run more "Don't walks", just because there was no one coming and only a sort way to cross.

Still, I was a little surprised to come in under 1 hour of running for the first time, which means an average speed when running of around 11 km/h. Even so, it was slim pickings on a Friday night, so I don't expect to repeat this run on another Friday (unless I'm in the same situation of being busy on a Saturday). Back, I just barely kept around 9 km/h and probably missed a lot of second lights.

The cake was Odile (alternatives were a coffee-flavored cake and black forest chocolate cake, which has cherries), which is a cream cheese sandwich (I didn't check, but another blogger wrote "speculass", which is a kind of spice cookie, in the same sense as gingerbread) with rhubarb sauce. I passed it up until now, but I've had good look with rhubarb, so I got it and ran it home.

Of course, it is a mild cake, but very nice, and the sauce balances the slight acidity of the cream cheese well. It was excellent, though that may be my bias for this shop speaking.

Speaking of bias and full disclosure, technically, I received another cake that day, but it's not from a place I respect: it's from P. Frips. This is mostly a tart place, and it's cheap and convenient, and even has an outdoor table on the street in front of the park, but I had a tart I didn't think was fresh and quit them before starting this blog. For free "cake", it's perfectly reasonable, and actually, there was a selection, so I chose their one actual cake, Gateau Chocolat. It's soft and characterless (but consistent in texture) and the whipped cream was perhaps not enough to give much taste, but the strawberries were sufficiently fresh, so maybe I should be less suspicious of them. Still, only okay, so I regret eating it other then confirming that I should pass on even free cake from there. What can I say, I'm a cake snob. 

Éclat des Jours: Azelia

Yesterday was training without cake (cached for a second future cake-off). I ran up and down a slope fast for about 14 min and then around the same neighborhood trying to familiar myself with it (I did to a point and then got lost) and seeing whether there are better slopes nearby (probably not, except the one between two stations that might be too busy that I already knew about), for a total of about 40 minutes. The non-cake was a sablé from Jean-Paul Hévin: Sablé Viennois Nougatine, which is a cookie with an almond-brittle center and undercoating of chocolate. Definitely excellent, so I'll try their other similar sablé.

Over the outer moat toward Hibiya.

Today, I got back to a recent priority, Éclat des Jours. I had a fairly good run, almost exactly 10.0 km/h for the 10+ km going out, but with lots of stops for lights. I u need to stop for fewer lights (by ignoring the unnecessary ones). This time I got Azelia, which was a little risky. This is peanut mousse covered in caramel on a chocolate and whole peanut tarte. I'm not generally in favor of peanuts as a cake ingredient and caramel doesn't always work out, but I was willing to give it a try. I told them it would take 100 min (I meant to say 80), and they put three ice packs in it (so I think their service is great, too). Still, the caramel was looking a little melty around the edges, so the extra ice was probably not wasted, but it was fine. Going back was just above 8.5 km/h, which is fine carrying cake. Tried to take a couple pictures with the cheap phone.

Night view from main bridge on route.

The cake was excellent, I think, certainly I had no problems with the peanuts or the caramel, which were both to my liking. I was expecting a richer chocolate, ganache maybe, rather than something more biscuit-like, but you generally need something to soak up extra moisture from mousse, seems like, so this was probably a structural requirement. Even though this third cake didn't reach the great level, this remains a top priority as a still little explored quite excellent shop.

Éclat des Jours: Rhum Raisin

Ran to Toyo (just north of Toyo station) in Koto-ku again, 10+ km each way, 10 km/h there, and 9 km/h back with cake in the rain (well, for several kilometers, anyway). Half the run follows a familiar path, and so passes quickly, but it's a nice path to the Inner Moat and then around to the Tokyo Station terminus of Toyo Line through Marunouchi and Kyobashi. On the main street (Route 1/Hibiya Ave.) running along the east side of the Inner Moat, you can see the newer behind the old on the northeast corner, in this old banking district, and the soon to be grand new big project on the southeast corner.

Then east of Tokyo station, which means canals and rivers. In this case, there are four canals but only Sumida River to cross of the bridges, but night and car headlights inferred too much for my old phone camera.

The cake was Rhum Raisin, which I did not have great expectations of, but it was the right shape (I don't trust wedges) and otherwise was not something I had developed negative expectations of. Still, just good was what I expected, but actually this was clearly definitely excellent and, maybe I'm just in a positive mood after 20+ km of running, but I left it was the best cake of this type that I've had and I'd like to have it again and compare it to other cakes, which is a way of saying it was great, so that's too great cakes in a row from them. Guess I'll be making more long eastward night runs. Also, this cake traveled almost double the distance as the last cake and did not even lose a raisin (until I bumped it trying to get it out, but I put it back).

Éclat des Jours: Cheminée

My big challenge for midweek was Thursday. After work, I ran to Éclat des Jours, which is 10+ km and requires going through the busy east Tokyo Station area, where there are also a lot of stoplights for major cross streets, so it was 9 km/h going and returning (probably, going was close to 10 km/h, but I missed hitting the "lap" button). It's not too crowded most of the way, though, and it's very easy to navigate, which is good because the Chiminée (540 yen? They gave me the wrong receipt), if "n" is the missing letter in what I actually wrote down when there, was great. It's main feature is raspberry ganache, I think surrounded by milk chocolate mousse, then raspberry sauce and a macaron on top. It's just sophisticated enough but covers the basics (getting the balance right between raspberry and chocolate is nontrivial). Also, it traveled 10+ km and still looks good, so it was well constructed and well packed.

Friday, I just did a little running for grocery shopping and got Flute Ancienne from Paul, which was way more calories than any cake (at least with butter), which I'll try to use up in a 30 km run tomorrow. It was excellent bread.