Viron, Menton

In a rare (though repeated the following day) event, I did not have to work late and went out to try to score a cake from one of the two three-excellent-cakes shops on the neighborhood running map. It occurred to me that I hadn't checked in at Viron, though, so I did that was was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a new cake, Menton. Like the only other Menton I've had, lemon was the main flavor, so I assume that's what Menton, France is famous for. Can't remember what the card said or tell for eating it what else is there besides custard, which seems to be the lemon part. There is thicker lighter area above it (and a nice nutty biscuit below it, almond I assume from the top) that's light brown; can you make just the burnt part of crème brulée, since this was uniform and mousse-like? Guess I need to swing by there again, though they won't have another new thing. Great cake! This works a lot better for me than a lemon tart in terms of balancing the texture of the custard against mousse, reasonably solid biscuit and some solid nuts and coating. I was looking for a great cake especially since I just had a new one from JPH, so this determines the next cake-off.

Libertable, D'Or

Monday, working through bringing the exceptional shops up to 8 cakes, I paid a visit to Libertable at Akasaka. According to their homepage, they shut down their department store counters in March and now only have the main shop.  Glad they are still going, as they have very high-class cakes. Another nice point is that they are open late, so no problem visiting them. Was surprised that the huge selection compared to the past, though the space is the same as always, so maybe just I usually go when most things are sold-out. A relatively new cake for me, and a seasonal one, is the D'or, which is obviously in the mont-blanc family. Since my favorite from them (Charm, which they still have) also is, it seemed a reasonable choice. Besides the usual chestnut paste on the outside over whipped cream, this has an almond and chestnut center, red, rather than black, currant and fig as the fruit accent. It was definitely excellent, so I was satisfied. It's a pretty short run down there, though, and I walked back, but I'm rather lazy lately, I suppose.

Juchheim Die Meister, Schokosahne

This one will be quick. I used my second coupon for the Odakyu food area to follow up on a second cake from a potentially fine shop. This time was Juchheim Die Meister, which is also found in Isetan, where I had gotten the first cake some time ago. There might not have been another choice, and certainly there wasn't more than one on a Friday evening, but I was happy to get Schokosahne, which is their chocolate cake. It's layers of milk and dark (I assume) chocolate cream between sponge layers. Not exciting, but the chocolate taste was not bad. The problem was almond slivers. Otherwise totally soft cake with little hard spikes (hiding somewhere)? Sorry, that doesn't work for me, but I'll give it an "OK". I'll actively avoid this chain in the future and be suspicious of the Juchheim family of brands.

  

Ease/Repos, Nut, Dried Fruit, and Caramel Tart

Not that I was in a hurry, just I wanted to know how it was before this weekend Repos, so I sent to Isetan a lunch time and got a cake from the new counter, Repos (by P. Ease). It's pretty pricy and away from my usual tastes, so I momentarily gave up but after looking at the visiting counter of the week (a fine shop) and not finding information about when Repos might leave (though they replaced a shop that was there maybe 6 months?), I reconsidered and got the  Nut, Dried Fruit, and Caramel Tart, which was relatively reasonable (nothing exotic or seasonal in it) and looked promising. As the name states, it's a tart, specifically an almond cream tart, on top of which is a crème mousseline of custard, butter cream, and pistachio paste with bittersweet caramel. The topping is nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and cashews) and dried fruit (raisons and cranberries). Definitely hots of things I like in a substantial tart, so no surprise that I thought it definitely excellent. The name they put on top of the each is Ease. I assume they want to differential the location names because the offerings are different, but they have a pretty big space, offering various bake goods besides the fresh cakes. I should definitely get back there for a second cake earlier rather than latter when it comes time to go in for second cakes from shops that had at least good cakes.

Frédéric Cassel, Domestic Blueberry Tart

Last Wednesday August 5th, I jogged (?) to Frédéric Cassel, just on the off chance of getting their blueberry tart on it's first day of a couple-week run. I was rather surprised to snag the last one, which makes three days in row of such success for new cakes, though maybe Monday's wasn't the last one. 

It's a fairly solid tart base (with almond cream) and while blueberries aren't the flavorful fruit (not that I'm that into any fruit, really), I was also happily surprised to find it definitely excellent. The announcement left off the name, but probably Domestic Blueberry Tart, based on the mille-feuille name, which I wasn't trying to get. Since they used phonetic "blueberry" in describing it, I translated the name as English rather than French, though I'm not sure what was on the card, if they even use anything other the the Japanese. 

Viron, Abricot Amande

Last Sunday, I did an early run to Viron before my 10 am appointment. The Shibuya shop opens at 9 am and had a cake I was not expecting, the Abricot Amande (or maybe it was Apricot Almond or some mixture of French, English, and Japanese). I also got a pastry, since they've had pretty nice ones so far. I went with the big Croissant Amande, which is a meal by itself, appropriate since I hadn't eaten since the night before. The croissant was excellent, so I'll keep getting fresh pastries from their as I have the opportunity.

The cake was definitely good, and certainly had a traditional feel. Not exciting, but nice, and I could see trying to pair it with a nice English tea, if I wasn't always moving on to the next new thing.

Paris S'éveille, Tarte Printanière

Got an early start, about 8 am, with the intention to try the Daikanyama-chou--Ebisu-Nishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop. I'm not too surprised that I failed, though large parts of it are unchanged. It's up to 13 km now and I did most of it before I saw that I had skipped a cafe in a religious bookstore; it was on the map, but I needed to make a little loop around it at around halfway. Otherwise, I made some on-the-fly changes, which would have be fine (I knew the official route, but could see how it needed to be fixed). Will try again tomorrow if I wake up early, which I tend to do. On the way, and only 30 minutes out (which wasn't that early with my breakfast before 6 am), I tried a Croissant d'Almonde (not sure if that was the name they used), from the Crossroad Bakery over in Ebisu-Nishi. They require a drink to eat in, so I got takeout and ducked into a garage next door to get out of the rain and maintain social distancing from anyone using the sidewalk, though the streets were pretty empty everywhere I went, except maybe near the supermarket coming back. The Croissant was the kind I liked: baked through, not wet. Definitely good, but didn't seem like the best I've had, or I'm just not into this particular pastry now. I didn't bother to get a picture.

After finding where I went wrong, at around 10:20, I had an hour plus walk (I had had enough running) to Jiyuugaoka, where I got a new cake from Paris S'éveille: Tarte Printanière (Spring Tart). This is a cherry compote tart (with a lot of cherry) as a base and I think almond and pistachio paste/top. I'm not that into cherry, but I'm trying to have an open mind. Certainly, appreciate the nuts and it's a quality tart, so I have to say it's excellent. I'll look forward to the next tart, if that's what comes next, but I'm up to day now, so probably I won't have anything to get from this this month unless it's for a cake-off, but next one with them probably won't be until August.

I also got a Croissant from them (which I ate immediately coming home, whereas the cake was after the first half of lunch), which I've give them the benefit of the doubt and say was excellent. Unless I want to include their brioche, I might be up to date surveying their pastries, though there are probably some pastry-like baked goods that I could retry, but don't necessarily need to be fresh, which is my excuse for revisiting shops for pastries.

Paris S'éveille, Tarte Fraisette

Last weekend, went down to Jiyuugaoka by bicycle, which is a mistake as far preserving the cake. As the pictures shows, this Tarte Fraisette did not like the vibration, though jogging is slightly better. I should perhaps give up and use the train, since there probably would not be many other passengers. Anyway, this tart is strawberry and orange compote on a pâte sucrée almond base, where the almond is mixed with cinnamon. I missed this last year, apparently, but was glad to catch it this year, as it was excellent. As I just wrote about them, probably thinking about this cake, they seem to be getting a the hang of fruitier cakes relative to previously, or I'm learning to like them more. I hope to make another visit next week, as I don't think I'm caught up on their new cakes. If the weather is good, I might try to eat outside. This time, I was also getting cake for a cake off so that was not practical.

Les Cacaos, Ville Franchier

Still a week behind, on the return from PS, I also stopped at Les Cacao again, as I try to catch up on exceptional shops (that are didn't suspend business for a month), and got a 7th new cake. I ate it after neighborhood run that successfully (I think, or at least I've been successful by now) did the new Akasaka west loop, which is going to be part of a 4-loop Nogizaka--Roppongi Sta. clump that's 9+ km, plus access routes, that I've put running together so far. Since I've found flaws in both the Omotesando southeast clump loops, that's still the priority, though I've finished the Shibuya Sta. east and north clumps, meaning I've been spending time (on the ground and in front of the computer) figuring out the Diakanyama area, which is become a 12+ km main loop, a side loops that have also expanded.

Anyway, running, and then cake: Ville Franchier. This is a butter cream cake with almond biscuits and a layer of chocolate down there in the shadows of the bottom. It's basically a marjolaine, perhaps, though I hadn't been thinking that at the time. Anyway, buttercream cakes can be boring, and yet, with the right touch of flavor, such as a little chocolate, they can be great. This one comes qualifies as excellent, which boosts Les Cacaos enough to get them out of the bottom of their shop category. Just three more shops to do (though definitely 1 and maybe 2 are suspected for the state of emergency, but the hotel-based one hopefully is continuing).

Paris S'éveille, Palet d'Or

In the afternoon, I tried going down to Paris S'éveille, as I was thinking they might have a new cake, which have been rare from them, so I've fallen behind in that respect. I went with Palet d'Or, which seem very familiar, as something that I ate in, but I can't find any record of it and the experience wasn't that familiar, so I'm not sure what I'm thinking of. This is a layer of dried fruits and almonds under passion fruit sauce (congealed). I suppose the sauce and the whipped cream on top are what make it a cake versus a cookie, but I'm not going to quibble, as, whatever you call it, it's quite nice. I can say that this is excellent, which usually I can't about their new cakes. They've been playing around with fruitier cakes for a while, but it seems now like they're finally getting the hang of it.

Yatsudoki, Chocolate Pompette

As a new shop to visit while I wait for the month to run out, I visited a shop of the dessert chain Yatsudoki, which has cakes, among other things. For logistical reasons, I ended up visiting the Shinjuku branch rather than the Jinguumae branch on the neighborhood course, though I had gone by that one on the way out. I choose the dense chocolate layer cake, which is not on the website. It's layers of almond biscuit and ganache, I assume, with some, probably inconsequential, amount of alcohol, thus the pompette. It's a relatively new chain (or a new brand of a relatively new chain), compared to most of the chain stores of the same level. Anyway, it's still a low level, but it was still good cake, which is a huge improvement over some of cheap chain shops that are hanging on, it least based on my small sample of each. Next, on to better things, though (if I could just finish work on time or if shops could stay open later without spreading illness).

Frédéric Cassel, Macaronade Sakura

Still catching up on blogging and posting pictures on my neighborhood running course map, I come to last Thursday afternoon. I had gone one getting cake I hadn't been able to get all week due to late working hours and early shop closing hours. After a half-lunch, I ate a new cake from the quite superb Frédéric Cassel that I had gotten at Ginza Mitsukoshi at the end of the afternoon run. The name is dubious, but the closest I could get to French (I don't think macaronade actually usually refers to macarons, but I don't really know). Obviously, its cherry, in the form of cream, but also raspberry in an almond macaron sandwich. I'm not always a fan of these types of cakes and cherry is definitely a difficult fruit for cakes with me, but this was definitely excellent, so I can certainly recommend it to anyone interested in either.

En Vedette, Rocher

Tuesday, under the threat of heavy rain and wind (and during medium rain, but not so cold), I went down to Shibuya Scramble Square (the building) to visit the En Vedette counter, since they are one of three candidates among quite fine shops vying for two possible spots in the exceptional group. I didn't try to any a neighborhood clump because of the rain, and because I wanted to do a weights workout when I got back, which I did. I chose the Rocher, though there were other tempting cakes. On the way home, I noticed that they were taking down the pedestrian bridge over Meiji-dori Ave. that crosses in Jinguumae and gets me to all those big loops to the west. I think I can cross further south (though it will probably become more convenient when the construction north of Shibuya Stn. finishes, since now it takes two bridges), but it's going to shift all those west loops down in priority slightly. I'll need to recalculate. I should also mention, though I had noticed Monday, that Nana Gâteaux is now Amiri, though they're still selling cake during the day, actually from earlier than before, just they're a bar restaurant as well.

I really liked the Rocher. Top and bottom is nut-based "biscuit" sandwiching an equal (combined) width of almond and hazelnut flavored butter cream. This is accented by lemon ganache. It's fairly simple, but the text and balance are just right, so I'm going to call it great, which should guarantee them a spot among the exceptional shops, though I'll wait until I've had at least two more cakes from them. It also means this will be one of the cakes in the next cake-off, unless the PH cake I just saw disappears again (it's been almost three years since I last saw it).

Jean-Paul Hévin: Bûchette Lichen

I'm way behind, but here goes. By last Wednesday, I had noticed that the individual versions of Jean-Paul Hévin's Christmas cakes were available, so I went hunting. I tried Isetan first, where there was a line (not necessarily for cake), but when I got a chance to ask, I found out that they were sold out, so I left. It was still early enough for me to go by bicycle to the Marunouchi shop, where they didn't have either and I didn't ask, so I went to Ginza Mitsukoshi, where they had both, not too much to my surprise (they are never as busy there). I went with Bûchette Lichen first because they only had one compared to several of the other, so I figured next time the other would still be easier to get, which would turn out to be true.

There is a full-sized version that has a fuller explanation of the layers, so I'm going to assume that they are the same, since the pictures match. The top (and sides of the big cake) is Venezuelan chocolate mousse, then Ethiopian café au lait mousse, a chestnut and almond biscuit, a chocolate and marzipan biscuit, and a cinnamon sablé base. So a high proportion of hard biscuit-type things, flour-less. The problem is the coffee, but I knew that going in. I really like this harder, drier cake as a change and I could accept the café au lait as an interesting flavor and enjoy it. There wasn't even a coffee aftertaste problem for me this time. However, it still left a burning feeling in my stomach, if not my mouth, so I still need to avoid coffee and have to rate it as only excellent.

Besides the bicycling, I did my indoor non-weights workout, which was enough.

Michalak, Religieuse

Monday, I was obsessed with the recently revised, than re-revised, then revised again Daikanyama-chou--Ebisunishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop. I'm still a little fuzzy on navigating the stairs at Daikanyama Stn./Dixsept shopping center, but I don't have to be so strict there. However, I noticed "it Coffee" off my course and shifted the course to add it, so Sunday's success was nullified, and I turned too soon after the new chocolate shop, so I failed Monday near the end. I was, however able to do the updated/corrected Shibuya central loop clockwise, so there was progress, and the run was really refreshing until the 10 km mark, when suddenly my hip was tired (this loop might have the most stairs, especially now, at least until I get to the part I split off from the main Akasaka loop).

Cake came on Tuesday, which is also the first day of the month, a good day to go to Isetan. I had the afternoon off, so I sent to Isetan and got two things. JPH's new cake in the lineup is an excellent one I've had before, so I didn't need get cake from them, but Michalak had their Religieuse, which I haven't had and I was two cakes behind on them. Unfortunately, they removed the almost identical Paris-Brest, which I hadn't done a third-round cake-off with yet, but I can wait a year. The other thing I got was a fresh viennoiserie (avoiding the vaguer term "pastry") from Andersen, the Choco Stripe. I had the latter first, before going out for exercise. It was good, but the concept sounds better than the practice, I think, because having the chocolate layered in loses crispness.

The exercise was once again practicing the Daita--Daizawa--Hatagaya--Kamiyama-chou--Kitazawa--Motoyoyogi-chou--Nishihara--Ooyama-chou--Shouto--Tomigaya--Uehara loop. I could go about an hour before I didn't have it memorized correctly. I added a shop with Australian sweets to the loop near Shim-Kitazawa station and shifted the course after that so I go by the Kitazawa Koushindou (a kind of traditional road-side shrine). Near the end, coming south from the northern most point near Hatagaya, I added a site marked Myōdōkai Kyōdan on a plaque, which is a Buddhist society, although the building just looks like a really nice residence. Still, I like this route more than staying on the main road, so I'll keep the change, and keep practicing until the route stabilizes and I learn it.

The Religieuse (which French and English authorities agree is a pastry but is cake for my purposes) really tasted very similar to Paris-Brest, but I prefer the latter. Still, excellent, so I don't begrudge them the variation, other than they timed it to coincide with JPH's introduction of Religieuse, which was announced a month ago. I should say that, though they told me hazelnuts, the recipe they showed me indicated, besides mostly caramel cream, pate almond. The top is whipped cream and a little fudge square.

Vincennes, Délice au Cassis

Working through a list of cakes I want a third cake from, I finally got to Vincennes out in Meguro-ku, when I went to by bicycle, taking a break from running and doing my short indoor workout. I got Délice au Cassis, which is almond biscuit with some cassis butter cream (?), and some "raw" chocolate on top. It's a nice little cake from a nice little shop, for a nice price, and was good. Don't imagine that I'll need a fourth cake, but I respect them, even if I search for fancier things.

Sadaharu Aoki, Forêt Rouge

Tuesday, I got cake first from Sadaharu Aoki at Isetan, managing to get the last piece of Forêt Rouge, unlike the previous day in Marunouchi, though that was much earlier in the day. Having straightened out the Akasaka loop on the neighborhood running course, I went by bicycle to Tokyo Midtown to park for free next to the loop. Before running, I found out that Toshi Yoroizuka is now open on Tuesdays, as of this month, when I went to double check their summer holiday, which is next Tuesday to the following Sunday. I successfully completed the planned course and did not have any corrections to make (at that time). I also completed the counterclockwise from-memory runs of the Akasaka 9 east and west loops, so that takes cake of the dead-end loops in the Akasaka clump. This time I was up to 1:8 walking to running, but the distance did not give me 10 full cycles, so I'll be holding that for a while, and may need to do specific interval training run next week if I don't try a longer route.

The cake was excellent quality and liquor (kirsch syrup)-soaked cherries in cherry suwent well with the cream and almond biscuit, so I'll rate this one was excellent.

Michalak, Tarte Pistache

Today, cake from Michalak again, as planned. I tried a second tart, the Tarte Pistache. The base is almond cream flavored with orange and rose, pistachio praliné, with mascarpone cheese, whipped cream, and pistachio paste in white chocolate icing, or some combination of those ingredients, as I got a little lost in the description online. The result is somewhat mild, as one would expect from mascarpone cheese and whipped cream, though still definitely good, and better from me than the previous chocolate one, though similar. This shop is currently beating some excellent ones, so it will probably get promoted from quite good, but it hasn't reached 6 cakes yet and I haven't tested either of the cakes identified as great yet in a cake-off, so I'll hold off a little while long. In the meantime, I'll try a new shop over the weekend, I hope, as well as the planned cake-off to test the first great cake.

Michalak, Tarte Delphine

Went back for a second cake from Michalak. This time it was Tarte Delphine, which is a mild chocolate, almond cream, and caramel. It is thick and decadent, and yet kind of boring. Good, but not exciting. They still might be quite good overall, but they can wait their turn for a third cake (though, since they are conveniently at Isetan, that might not be that long a wait).

Ladurée: Fleur Noire

Tuesday, still no running, but my feet were much better, maybe 75%. Not perfect, though, and I'm worried about a partial sprain, so not something I want to rush. I did feel free to walk even further for cake (besides the normal daily commuting, which is a few kilometers total). This time, in response to their cake-off win (and because they rank high as a quite good shop even under the new system, so I need to see whether they should be promoted to excellent), I went to Lumine at Shinjuku Station and got Fleur Noire from Ladurée. This thing is pretty decadent, with both chocolate and almond icing, dark chocolate mousse, and bourbon vanilla (that is, vanilla from Madagascar) cream in the middle. They're working pretty hard at this one, but it is excellent, so they may be able to make the transition. Got a lot of other shops to sort out after the reorganization, so I'm not sure yet.