Cake-off: Bien-être's Mont-Blanc over Viron's Gateau Chocolat

This is about two weeks behind, as worsening conditions naturally drain my enthusiasm, but still these were great cakes I had in a cake-off. These were the the last (until enough new great cakes advance) of the 5th round cake-offs for cakes with 3 wins to one loss. Getting the cake was pretty easy. Viron in Shibuya opens at 10:00 and always has their Gateau Chocolat. Matching against this was the best cake of Viron's biggest rival in terms of my own ranking, Bien-être's Mont-Blanc, which was among the few types of cakes for sale from 11:00. 

Today, maybe I wanted something softer with more texture variation, even though I love chocolate, so the underdog shop won with the Mont-Blanc. While there, I noticed a new cake I wanted, which hopefully didn't influence me.

Actually, I lied. I remember now that I was running late and went to B-E first and then to Viron. Viron open's earlier, but B-E is more likely to sell out and there was less certainty that they would have what I wanted. In pursuit efficiency, I also stopped at Scramble Square building to get a cake from a counter, which is how I suddenly remembered the order. More about that in the next post. 

 

Cake-off: Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine over Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille

Thursday (so no cake since Sunday), I went for a long walk with a little running for lights and downhill, enough to arrive in about 110 minutes, even with with the lights I didn't beat. I was afraid that it would be three hours, so it wasn't as far as I thought and I wasn't as slow as the beginning implied. The goal was a cake-off, with the primary being Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine, a classic. I started a little after 8am, thinking they would open at 9am (based on their not up-to-date homepage), but arriving at 9:55 am, they were closed and I was first in line, arriving just ahead of the second person. I got my cake, no problem. Would have been nice if they had had one of two other great cakes not recently in the line-up, but I wasn't expecting them. I took the train back to Isetan and got Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille their standard tart. Very different in size and in price, though the larger is cheaper by weight. Tarte Infiniment Vanille remains a great vanilla cake, but the variation and bitterness of the Marjolaine brings me to give the classic the win. I should say this was a 5th round for two cakes with only one loss each going in. I have have two more likely available cakes left in that group, which I plan to hit this weekend, after which I'll have to expand the competition to include two-and-two cakes. Haven't had as many new great cakes or returned great cakes this year, so I'm whipping through the planned list rather quickly. I'll put ABVT down for a backup visit this weekend if Paris S. doesn't come through with new cakes, though I'll probably also pick up something from the main Dalloyau in that case, taking care of two shops in one neighborhood visit.

Cake-off: Aigre-Douce's Tarte au Caramel Salé over Rue de Passy's Opera Pistache

As a 5th round cake-off of two cakes with three wins each, I first went first to Aigre-Douce, which is always super busy. Now, that means a long line, enough that they have to be careful about their neighbor. Under former conditions, it was crazy crowded inside, so I prefer the current situation, actually. Anyway, they only have one great cake available, at least for the last several years, and I get it every year, Tarte au Caramel Salé. It actually rather soft among caramel tarts, which might be what makes it great. I went by bicycle, which it was strong enough to survive. I took it home first before going out again to Rue de Passy to get, not their only great cake (the shop is a level above A-D), but the one great cake they always have, Opera Pistache. I'll have to keep my eye open for the other, as I missed it for the current round, I think. This is a more solid, dry cake, like torte. I was happy with both cakes and deciding wasn't an immediate thing, but in the end Tarte au Caramel Salé won again, despite the distinction have coming from the shop that's given me the most less than good cakes. But I have to keep trying.

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Choux Vanille versus Jean-Paul Hévin's Guayaquil

Thursday, I took off in the morning and did got cakes for the cake-up skipped last weekend, when I was busy. Since I didn't manage to find a new great cake, I worked through my list to run a 5th-round cake-off for cakes that have only one loss. This pair has the advantage that they are both available at Ginza Mitsukoshi: Frédéric Cassel's Choux Vanille and Jean-Paul Hévin's Guayaquil. These are both pretty basic cakes in their ways, but great. Guayaquil is JPH's base straight chocolate cake; I still haven't tried the thing he showed on public TV of microwaving it to experience the change in flavor chocolate flavor from change in temperature, but that remains a good idea. It's got various layers, so there are texture variations, but the Choux Vanille still has a better contrast, or maybe I'm just a sucker fro the sugar on the pastry, but once again I have to give the win to the one puff pastry on my greats list. Check it out if you get a chance.

Cake-off: Viron's Menton over Jean-Paul Hévin's Maya

For the weekend, I started off
going to Isetan to get cake for a Cake-off at Isetan. It's the weekend of White Day, so even getting there at opening, there was a long line at Jean-Paul Hévin. Fortunately, they closed the bar and were using the space for people who didn't need to individually select chocolates, so I got my cake. For the cake-off, I needed Maya. I figured I had time, so I walked it home before setting out for Viron to get their new Menton, which involved a little waiting but was no problem. It's a rainy day, so no attempts at running were involved.

Both these new cakes stood up to evaluation. As much as I like chocolate, its a crowded field, which might be why I'm giving the Menton the win. It's lemon, but there seems to be a lot else going on, even if I'm not sure what, and a satisfying mix of textures.

Cake-off: Très Calme's Pistache Apricot over Éclat des Jours' Rhum Raisin

Last Saturday, I got cakes for a cake-off. Due to leg problems, I went by bicycle, which doesn't seem to mind. I was looking at a fifth-round for two shops with 3 wins to only 1 loss. The first was Rhum Raisin from Éclat des Jours and the second was the Pistache Apricot from Très Calme (which also has a great Kouign Amann, if you like fairly solid ones versus more puffed up ones, which I do). It's kind of obvious what the winner is, based on my over preferences, and yet somehow the uniqueness of Rhum Raisin among my great cakes has enabled it to be in a high bracket. The need for it is less now that I have a Baba on my list, but it still has merit, I think, though I'm giving the win toe Pistache Apricot because I like pistachio cream a lot, which is well balanced, and this is a nicely solid cake as well.

Cake-off: Éclat des Jours's Cheminée over Lenôtre's Concerto

For a cake-off, started off with a trip out to Éclat des Jours to get the Cheminée. This had two losses to 1 win, so it was held back a year and this was only a fourth-round. I started running (or doing squats, if stuck at a light) and walking in 1 min and 1 min intervals, but saw that wasn't going to make it much farther than other trips, so I switched to 1 min to 2 min after 10 sets and then 1 min to 3 min after another 10 sets. So I could do 30 1 min intervals, which was more than recent, but still not clearly an improvement. For the trip back to Ginza Mitsukoshi to get Lenôtre's Concerto, I walked and then took the train back for lunch, after which I did the cake-off.

Since these are both weaker cakes among the great cakes, it was a less exciting but still nice cake. Both of these are chocolate, but Cheminée has raspberry, as the picture suggests. Actually, I had doubts about it last time, but I wasn't so worried about it this time. The Concerto is mostly similar to many of my favorite mousse cakes from JPH, but the texture wasn't quite working for me, which could be partially my fault, as how one eats a cake has an effect on the texture. I have to go with what I taste, though, and I'm back to thinking that Cheminée  might be my favorite raspberry chocolate cake and deserves the win, whereas I'm having doubts about Concerto, so I'll need to review it carefully next time.

Cake-off: Pierre Hermé's Carrément Chocolat over Paris S'éveille's Giverny

Running very far is not possible, so  I did a cake-off buying by bicycle, which is why the fruit maybe isn't as originally placed. Still, the cake managed pretty well. I started by going to  Paris S'éveille to get the Giverny, a cake with three wins and one loss. I matched it with the next cake in line that was convenient for the return trip. Since the Aoyama stop isn't open until noon now and there's bicycle parking at Hikarie, I went there to get Pierre Hermé's Carrément Chocolat. In some ways it's a pretty lopsided match, since fruit cakes have a harder time with me than chocolate, but then chocolate cakes have to live up to my memories of other chocolate cakes to stay in the greats group, so it's fair to a certain degree. However, this turned out to be a really nice cake, with some thick chocolate cream in there and good texture. Still, the greatness of Giverny was not questioned. 

Cake-off: L'Abricotier's Le Piemont over Noix de Beurre's Fraise Chantilly

Saturday, I did a 4th-round cake-off between two cakes with one win to two losses each. Getting L'Abricotier's Le Piemont involved running 25 minutes in intervals of 1 minute and running the rest. My leg is not really getting better, but I'm getting more serious about identifying where needs stretching. The root is probably still a teenage back injury and resurface a couple decades ago, though it also shows up along the same place as a more recent lateral problem which required a lot of stretching, so I'm not giving up. They didn't have a lot of the Le Piemont compared to others even a little after opening, so maybe they are troublesome or not so popular, despite being an old standard. The Fraise Chantilly from Noix de Beurre required standing in line for an hour, which wasn't fun, but not as bad as I thought when I first saw the line. Not sure why this place is always like this. Despite the similar histories, it wasn't very close between the cakes, as I wasn't finding the merit in keeping the Fraise Chantilly in the lineup. I like whipped cream plenty and more of that and less sponge cake than a typical Japanese "shortcake" is fine with me, but I'm okay without it. I'm in new territory here, as I gave it a pass last time, but not the time before. Not sure what I'll do when that happens in the 5th round, if it ever does, but I'm deciding now that it's okay to cut it whereas my previous idea only if the two doubts occur in a row. I'll mention that I previously had my doubts about the Le Piemont, so these two cakes were well matched in that respect too, though I don't check that before the cake-off.  

Cake-off: Ryoura's Soyeux over Paris S'éveille's Gateau Vanille

In anticipation of being too busy for a cake-off this coming weekend (or maybe a make-up for the previous one---I'll have to check before the next one), I did another cake-off on Sunday. Actually, one cake I got the day before, from Paris S'éveille, Gateau Vanille. Though I had a backup plans, I was successful Sunday of getting Ryoura's Soyeux at Tokyo Midtown via Dean & Deluca. There was 1 minute on 1 minute off running at least that far, but I walked thereafter. Still, I dropped the bag as some point which is why it's a little worse for wear. Fortunately, it's a pretty solid cake. Actually, it's much like pistachio cake I had the day before and declared excellent, but I did like this one better. In fact, in the spirit of comparison, I liked both these cake-off cakes better than the previous day's ones, even though all are 3-wins-1-loss cakes. Also like the day before, though, I couldn't decide until the end and it could have gone either way. As great as the vanilla cake is, and I should really match it up against the other great vanilla cake to see which one is the top, I'm going with thick pistachio paste and some fruit. I should have checked whether Ryoura had a new cake at Dean & Deluca but I'm never that organized. 

Cake-off: Bien-être's Chocolat Cuit over Paris S'éveille's Saint Honoré Caramel

I started out the weekend with a two-cake deficit from the previous week, which was immediately filled by successfully scoring two cakes for a 5th-round cake-off for cakes from the three-wins one-loss group. Paris S'éveille opened first, so I went there by bicycle (which is why the top of the cake on the left has sagged backward. Actually, they have three cakes that could have fit the bill, but I got the highest priority one. I wasn't too worried about being able to get Chocolat Cuit from Bien-être even though I couldn't get it earlier in the year since I can confirmed more recently and it seemed unlikely that they would cut it coming up on the Valentine's Day, which is peak chocolate season. Being both great to begin with and having similar records, it's not surprising that I can't say definitely that one is better than another. About halfway through, I decided that the Saint Honoré Caramel had more going for it, but too much bitter caramel and not enough tea meant that at the last bite I preferred the Chocolat Cuit, which I'm giving the win. Also, I need to get a bigger tea pot. (I have a French press that would make three cups, but I don't like to use it.)

Full disclosure, I finally tried a Mont-Blanc from Pronto, the chain café and bar, during the week. It was cake-shop priced but grocery store shape and quality, which is good enough for a chain coffee shop, I imagine, but not for me. I won't waste time reviewing it in detail and, should I ever get running again more than a dozen intervals of 1 minute, it won't be on a cake running map.

Cake-off: L'Abricotier's L'Abricotier over Ladurée's Plaisir Sucré

Saturday I squeezed in a cake-off before being busy in the afternoon. It involved half-running half-walking out to L'Abricotier to get the cake of the same name (though I would have settled for another great cake that was also available). This is a fourth-round for it, having gotten paused a year for two losses to only one win. I paired it with the main target, Ladurée's Plaisir Sucré, which appears as a February cake on my list and which I failed to get once this year already, so this was a second effort. I picked it up at the Shinjuku Sta. shop, having taken the train back that far.

L'Abricotier is like a pie with fruit and nuts without the excess wetness and crust of a pie, so quite nice. Plaisir Sucré is all great stuff, but I've had the same stuff in another cake that's won 5 rounds in a row and is definitely better, so I don't really need this one, even greatness being relative. It will still get a fifth round, in a couple years, if I'm still in Tokyo eating cakes, but it's on notice as maybe being only semi-great.

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Breteuil over Éclat des Jours' Baked Cheesecake

Sunday, I did the most recent cake-off, I did my second 5th round of the again, pitting two undefeated cakes against each other. The primary target was Breteuil from Frédéric Cassel, because it is a seasonal cake, whereas Éclat des Jours' Baked Cheesecake has been available year-round for as long as I've known about it. Both are perfect cakes, and it certainly wasn't clear eating which I would choose even halfway through them, but I decided to go with the pistachio wonder that is Breteuil, just based on person preference, but it wouldn't have been shocking to choose the cheesecake, which remains the best I know. Rough to have to wait another year to have either again, but there are a lot of shops out there and even a lot of great cakes to have again in Tokyo. 

This catches me up, as I did have time (or cake slots) for more during long workdays and short shop hours for Monday through Wednesday. Hoping for something Thursday, but my left side hasn't been in much shape for running, though I got my watch battery changed Monday (when I didn't work quite so late) and did intervals Tuesday quite late, despite being cold and windy for walking between runs outside.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Monsieur Arnaud over Jean-Paul Hévin's Mont-Blanc

Did a run/walk down to Jiyuugaoka, as planned, and got Paris S'éveille's Monsieur Arnaud. Was about 10 minutes early, but there was still a line of several people, so different from last time I went early (though I can't remember what day of the week that was). Anyway, they had that cake and their other undefeated great cake, but this was earlier in the list, so I choose it as the opponent for Jean-Paul Hévin's Mont-Blanc, which was a priority because JPH is the top shop and the Mont-Blanc is seasonal. This is the first fifth-round cake-off, so I'm starting big. Jean-Paul Hévin's Mont-Blanc might be my favorite mont-blanc, but that's still a somewhat limited category so Monsieur Arnaud, which is also a standard cake, and the one they showcase in the article posted in the shop window, but has more of my favorite ingredients, with nuts, chocolate and fruit in a cake with a thick biscuit with good texture, cream, and sheet chocolate. I've going to have to wait for FC's undefeated great cake to come back or I could have two PS cakes battling for the top.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Le Suprême over Jean-Paul Hévin's Duja Pistache

Catching up on cake-offs, I did another one to match something with Duja Pistache (obtained the night before) from Jean-Paul Hévin, following the strategy of working on the cakes from the top shop that might disappear before I'm ready. I tried Rue de Passy first, but the citrus pralin mille-feuille has moved on, so I continued down to Paris S'éveille. Wasn't sure I was going to make it, as just 10 days without running had me out of shape, in that my knee and/or hip hurt so bad that my whole leg was going numb. Got through it though. Had the same problem the next day and found that best answer was squats, which I haven't been doing lately. PS is in pandemic mode, with the café space closed and limiting people inside. Got the Le Suprême, which lost last time I think, when I wasn't feeling what was so great about blackberry chocolate mousse. This time I was comparing it to a chocolate pistachio layer cake. Generally nuts are a better bet with me than fruit, but I was feeling the advantage of the fruit complementing the chocolate over a relatively fruity nut this time and didn't mind the limited texture of a mousse cake (complemented for texture by chocolate sheet). This is a fourth round, where both had been held back last year for already having two losses, but Le Suprême pulls a second win, so it's claimed middle territory among the great cakes.

Cake-off: Sadaharu Aoki's Chocolat Pralin over Jean-Paul Hévin's Matcha Marron

Catching up on the previous week as far as Tokyo cakes (from being busy over the Christmas to New Year's Day period, though I had other nice cakes), I did the first of two cake-offs. Since they are my top cake shop and the line-up could change as early as mid-month, I started with a fourth-round cake-off for recent new Jean-Paul Hévin cake Matcha Marron. I pitted it against another cake with only 1 win in 3, Sadaharu Aoki's Chocolat Pralin. It wasn't my first choice, but it's available even during the year transition period (unlike Ladurée's regular items). Though I wasn't thinking about it, I know I considered Chocolat Pralin as a heavy hitting that started with two tough cake-offs, though I shouldn't be surprised that it takes the win. Matcha Marron is an interesting combination of flavors, but there is a reason traditional combinations are traditional.

Cake-off: Lenôtre's Feuille d'Automne Rouge over Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Chocolat au Lait

Sunday, as another cake-off, which was not my original plan (my original plan was that I would hit a couple exceptional shops, to finishing raising that category to 8 cakes each). However, the day before I saw that Pierre Hermé had their Tarte Infiniment Chocolat au Lait in for the Christmas season, like other years (the connection is that it's robust enough that they can make them far ahead). It's complicated, but both it and Lenôtre's Feuille d'Automne Rouge had a mistaken 3rd round, where I accidently pitted them against something that had already had a third round. Officially, they are both one and one but each secretly has a win against a 1-win-of-3 shop, so the winner of this cake-off will get credit for 2 wins out of 3, and the loser has their previous match count, so they become 2 winds out of 4, so win-win, essentially, except only one can get a new 4th round whereas the other will probably sit next year out, since they have two losses.

The tart remains in good favor. Though the name indicates milk chocolate, the caramel and crunchy pits define it. However, I have to give the win to Feuille d'Automne Rouge. At first glance, it's a simple variation on their star cake (in Japan), but I'm coming to think it's a real upgrade, though one might not always want raspberry. Haven't seem they try any other variations, but I'll keep hoping. In any case, both shops win a chance for another sample, but that's going to probably wait until next year, as I'm busy, unless I get something the 31st. 

Cake-off: Viron's Gateau Chocolat over Éclat des Jours' Tartelette Mûre

Took off Thursday morning and did a run for cake-off cakes, or at least for the first one, Éclat des Jours' Tartelette Mûre. It seemed early when I started, so I took a longer route, but I paused enough and I'm slow enough that I wouldn't have been early if I had taken the shortest route. I decided to take the train back in two stages, stopping at the Marunouchi Viron to get their Gateau Chocolat. They don't have the selection of the Shibuya shop, but they have the basics.

These cakes are great in being top of their class in significant classes: classic baked chocolate cake and a custard and cream fruit tartlet. This time, I have to go with the chocolate, which is simple (in being uniform except for a little powered sugar on top) and delicious. This was a fourth round for two cakes with two wins and one loss, so the chocolate cake will get a round again next year but the tart can sit out a year. One more cake-off planned for this year.  

Cake-off: Viron's Baba over Pièce Montée's Mont-Blanc

There was and was not a lot of running for this cake-off, in poor weather. Friday night, I ran to Pièce Montée's and got one of the last Mont-Blanc. Weird thing this time, they asked me to pay first, which is totally normal, but by coming around the counter and (telling me) just holding out their hand for the money. Japanese use trays to pass money, so I was expecting her to bring a money tray like in JPH (though it is a pretty unstable to carry money). I visited FC (again) on the way back and confirmed their two new cakes this month. They're both petit version of their main Christmas cakes, one chocolate with some whipped cream and one strawberry of various forms, including mixed with (coating) chocolate for the outside. They might great, but I've got a lot of other shops to visit, so I'll wait until I'm in more need or they have something that looks like it could become a regular thing. I walked my cake back, though at a good pace. This shop opens and closes late, so getting cake at night for the next day is the only way to go (plus, limited selection on Saturday's and closed Sundays).

Saturday, I woke up with balance problems (still feel a little odd) that are unnoticeable when I exercise. I assume something broke off and worked its way to the wrong part of my ear. If it's bad again tomorrow I'll have to look up what one does about that (since I've seen this on a health shop, I assume I also saw some home exercise, but I can't remember what it is). Anyway, I let myself sleep in longer, so Viron was almost open by the time I left the house, and I went to the bulk grocery out that way to stock up on nuts and walked from there with an umbrella. Still no problem getting the Baba. Still no new (non-coffee flavored) cakes. Last year they had some special Christmas cakes and in their case I should indulge, since I'm just getting more behind on them, due to lack of new cakes.

The Baba and the Mont-Blanc are both standards in general. Viron's is the only one I'm calling great, and it still satisfied me with its strong taste from a generous amount of rum, and nice volume overall. The Mont-Blanc is the opposite, being rather small and being pretty plain, but not in a bad way at all. It's definitely something that, after eating, I could eat another one, which is one sign of greatness. But I liked the Baba better, so it wins. Also, the Mont-Blanc it's not really special in it's class, so while its a good enough representation of that class, I've got enough other one's, including ones that I would miss, that I can't say it's great. That's two times in a row, so it gets demoted to semi-great. Either way, it's a quite fine shop, though I've had enough of their small collection that it will probably be a long time before I get back there, if ever.

  

Cake-off: Lenôtre's Feuille d'Automne Rouge over Dalloyau's Trois Chocolat

Did a cake-off on Saturday with the newly returned Feuille d'Automne Rouge by Lenôtre and Dalloyau's Trois Chocolat, which is also a recent try (this having replaced the old similar chocolate cake). This was a second-round cake-off, with both having lost their first round. In this case, the Feuille d'Automne Rouge is definitely an unsubtle appeal to my sweet tooth, the same as the regular Feuille d'Automne, with chocolate cake and (straight baked) meringue inside a lot of decoration chocolate, only with raspberry sauce inside (I'm not sure whether the outside color reflects flavoring). That said, raspberry is a strong flavor, so this could go wrong, but it doesn't. Trois Chocolat is great in being an ideal light chocolate cake for me, but that isn't my first choice, so Lenôtre gets the win, though their cake is pretty messy to eat, as these types always are. 

Just running to Ginza to score both of those wasn't much, so after bring them back, I went out another two hours. I had used up my Odakyu coupons, but still had points that expire this year, so I used them to get a Pain au Chocolat from Pompadour, but it was just competently good.  I won't both to include the photo. I also got a first sample from a shop (really a food truck) in the Omotesando/Harajuku area. This is the Omote-Sando area exclusive Tokyo Honey and Pepper, I think, and is a cream cheese sandwich, basically mini cheesecake. It is excellent for what it is, but the pepper wasn't really in a noticeable amount. 

I also hit various café and have added quite a few places that I should try to cake from that are already territories included in at least the main sites part of my new neighborhood running courses (which I haven't been using much lately), so I want to visit them before deciding on the final neighborhood cake route and was out in an evening run that includes ones I forgot and visited Picard, which has a lot of expensive desserts on special for Christmas, which I don't really trust. Besides, I still have something from there I haven't tried in the freezer, so I should get around to baking that his Friday, maybe.