Bien-être, Chiboust au Pistache Framboise

Back in April (not sure whether I'll ever get caught up with no running to speak of to write about), I got a cake-off reward from Bien-être, Chiboust au Pistache Framboise. I had seen this when I was last there. Two other chiboust au pistache cakes are among my favorites, but they already changed the base recipe in a way that I like less, so I wasn't raising my hopes up too high. It was good, but I was correct that I'm not that into this new version, also the ones I liked most went with sourer fruits.

Blondir, Chiboust Framboises

Thursday last week, I took the morning off and did some errands, but only after bicycling for cake to Blondir for a fourth cake from this shop on the quite fine list. I've never actually been out there before, at least not since starting to keep track. Other cakes were presumably from a Shinjuku department store. This is actually my first time to use a Nerima-ku tag, so it's been a long time since I've been out that way. The route was complicated trying to follow the Google Maps recommendation, since it's going diagonal relative to the usual roads. Though on an unexpectedly narrow road, it's a really nice looking shop inside and out, had a good spread, and is probably the first place I've been served by an older man (I don't think he was the pâtissier, who's supposed to be only late forties). I went with the Chiboust Framboises, still looking for a great chiboust like I had several years ago when they were more of a thing apparently. This was basically, a raspberry tart with a "chiboust" layer on top. The tart was definitely good, but the eggy topping really doesn't add anything, unfortunately. Looks like Blondir won't make the next cut, but still a fine shop.

Bien-être, Chiboust Earl Grey

First Thursday of the month, I completed a streak of four and scored an early cake for the next week by visiting Bien-être and finding a new cake at night, Chiboust Earl Grey (so no pistachio chiboust). I can't remember what fruit accent this had (and fruit accent is redundant with earl grey tea, but it wasn't anything strong), but it was excellent cake, which is what matters. 

Tooth Tooth (Salon): Fig and Caramel Nuts Mille-feuille, and Chocolat Mont-blanc

Went to the salon at the main P. Tooth Tooth, in Kobe for tea and cake for two. The Tooth Tooth Blend tea was good (we only ordered tea for one, but it comes in a pot for three cups worth, so it was plenty).

Chocolat Mont-blanc: P. Tooth Tooth

The main desserts were Fig and Caramel Nuts Mille-feuille and Chocolat Mont-blanc, which were both good.

Fig and Caramel Nuts Mille-feuille: P. Touth Touth

I liked the mille-feuille better, though the actual pastry was somehow a little different in construction than what I usually see, but it's hard to say how. It was still "leaves", but they seemed more interweaved, maybe.

Chiboust Pomme: P. Tooth Tooth

The next day, we went again for lunch with cake, and you can choose cake from the regular boutique/takeout cake line-up (though maybe some things were omitted; I didn't compare). The lunch was nice, so I would go back again for that. This time we went for the Mont-blanc and Chiboust Pomme.

Mont-blanc P. Tooth Tooth

The chiboust was the heaviest chiboust that I've ever had, but it was still definitely good. The Mont-Blanc was also more solid than usual, with very little whipped cream. Inside, besides a chestnut, was a layer for semi-solid custard, I don't know whether I've seen custard before in a Mont-blanc, but its seems very Kobe-style. The base was a walnut biscuit (coarse cake) and there were walnut pieces throughout. Actually, the paste of the "mont" did not have much of a chestnut flavor, as far as I could tell, so this was really more of a walnut mont-blanc, which makes it interesting enough that I'll hazard an evaluation of excellent.

Cake-off: Très Calme's Pistache Apricot over Bien-être's Pistachio and Grapefruit Chiboust

Saturday isn't as hot as I feared, but still plenty hot. Haven't done any running yet, but am considering going out in the evening to revisit parts of my neighborhood map before getting back to adding new parts (besides the new parts I've had to add in the middle of old maps, because I found overlooked locations). Instead, I went out at about 9:30 to update pictures for the neighborhood map. Did a temple practically next to Shinanomachi Station that's been rebuilt, then down to Jinguu Gaien Ichou Namiki Avenue, where I've added a new neighborhood loop, now that the connecting pedestrian bridges are available, along with the Royal Garden Cafe Aoyama at the south end, which has good pastries. Then I went down to the loop around Hiroo, where I only managed two planned locations and picked up two previously unknown locations near them, which is not a very good ratio of success, so I've had to completely redo that loop, splitting off the northeast part as three loops (which include a lot of bread places that I overlooked previously) and merging what was left (which is most of that loop) with the loop northeast of Shibuya Bridge, near Ebisu Station. I still haven't tested any of that, so I won't be surprised if there are future changes.

Then from about 10:08, I went my bicycle and got my cake. One was Pistache Apricot from Très Calme (naturally, I visited the farthest one first, though that was because they open first) which only got slightly dented, and the other was the variously named Pistachio and Grapefruit Chiboust from Bien-être, which I had (unnecessarily) preordered the night before (they just took my name and number; they didn't make me pay ahead, unlike Sadaharu Aoki), which definitely did not like road vibration, which is not surprising for any chiboust. The later cake I've been waiting to do a first-round cake-off since last September. I also noted that Bien-être had at least two other cakes that I haven't had, a seasonal tart and a new mille-feuille and that they do not in fact seem to have verrine, just puddings.

The cake-off wasn't a blowout this time, so they were well matched in that sense, as well as being well matched in flavors (no clashing) and yet having significant design differences to make comparing them interesting. I'm deciding in favor of the denser more sophisticated Pistache Apricot from the less distinguished (by me, at least) shop over the light, homemade-like Pistachio & Grapefruit Chiboust, which I thought would be better for with less grapefruit. Both cakes are seasonal, so I'll be doing second-round cake-offs with them next, starting with the loser against Le Saint-Marc, which at least shares its lightness. Next time, perhaps I'll walk the chiboust, or at least run it, home and see if it arrives more intact.

Bien-être, Pistachio and American Cherry Chiboust

Friday, I went back to Bien-être, jogging a little over 2 km of the roundtrip. At the shop, I tried the current pistachio chiboust, Pistachio and American Cherry Chiboust, in their eating space (there were 4 other customers eating). Not sure that American cherry is as good as grapefruit, but it's fine and provides a different texture from other components that grapefruit can't. Anyway, this thick tart under a thick layer of chiboust is still unlike other cakes that I have regularly, so I can say that this is great, like the previous version that seems to have a very short line-up life. Now I really did to do a first-round cake-off, but I'm busy this weekend and some of next.

Thursday, I got back to Libertable, also running just 2 km of the roundtrip and walking the rest. That time I got the regular Feuilletée. It looks more like a croissant than the chocolate one does and was more bread-like inside than I expected. However, the texture is less like a typical croissant than the chocolate version was. It has a kind of chewiness that actually made it more interesting, which made it excellent to me. I hope they make some other pastries, though these two might be the only two I've seen; if they don't have one next time I go, I'd also like another new cake, but I should make sure to ask them about their pastry schedule.

Bien-être: Chiboust Chocolat Framboise and Chantilly Fraise

As a café date, Bien-être is the best that we've never visited. The excuse to go to that area was to see cherry blossoms (which aren't quite at full bloom, but close) at Yoyogi Park. It was reasonably crowded, but manageable. We didn't try to picnic or anything, but walked around and too some pictures.

At Bien-être, I went for the Chiboust Chocolat Framboise, since I've had good luck with their chiboust and this seemed unusual enough that I didn't want to miss it. The other choice was a standard, Chantilly Fraise. First, the chiboust is quite rich, even heavy, which is counter intuitive for chiboust, but it's excellent. The raspberry is relative subtle, but definitely there, which is my preference. Chantilly Fraise is not so much my thing, but I definitely thought that the sponge was more flavorful than average and resisted moisture and the whipped cream was nicely fresh, so I can say that this is excellent. One of the best thing about this shop is that they change their line-up fairly regularly for a shop their size. Also not that this place is so popular that they were only barely squeeze us in.

Voisin: Chiboust Fruit Rouge

Yesterday, I failed to get cake because of the long lines at F. Cassel the day before White Day (they had cakes, but they also sell chocolates). Instead, I got a Croissant Lemon from Dragone, which is in no way a croissant or any kind of pastry, except in shape, although it was sweet and good as the same wholesome wheat bread that they sold me as a baguette (which it also definitely in no way resembled except in outer shape).

Today, I tried Shinjuku Takashimaya and got a Chiboust Fruits Rouges, though not from the shop I had intended, but instead from Voisin (according to physical evidence and postings on the Internet of a similar cake with the same maker). Still, it was definitely good, so I shouldn't complain, but Voisin isn't even listed on the Takashimaya webpage and this was at least next to my actual target's sign. I'll have to be more careful next time when trying to get something from someplace new.

Running today was confirm kilometer markers 21 through 24 and the new loop just outside Yamanote Line between Shibuya and Harajuku.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Bûchette Géométrique

Got the last of the tree individual Christmas cakes, the Bûchette Géométrique. The chocolate mousse is Peruvian cacao and smoked cream, cacao and almond buiscuit, poppy seed crisp (?), and laurel (bay leaf) chiboust. Definitely different from nutty or fruity cakes and I liked it and can call it great.

Not much to say about the run. I worked on proposed loops in the Akasaka area, though I realize that I have work to do on the old map. Besides some revisions (most of which I don't need to practice), I want to be able to do the courses in either directions (or, for multiple loops, each loop in a different direction, unless they overlap, in which case one loop's direction determines the other, since I still don't want to do full 180 degree turns. Don't have time to do exact measurements of the run, but it was 59 minutes today.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Bûchette Gatsby

Monday I tried a second cake from the Jean-Paul Hévin special Christmas series, Bûchette Gatsby, which is baked flour-less chocolate biscuit, vanilla chiboust, and mild 68% chocolate mousse. This time, I ate the cake turned on its side and it was great. Of course, the greatness might depend on other things, but one issue with this much decorative chocolate on a cake is the shape of the fragments when eaten, which cutting laterally rather than vertically makes a big difference too. (Note that the tongue interprets bumpiness as bitter, I think). I hope to have similar luck on number three on Wednesday. I have a lot of time-limit cakes I'm trying to get to, so I still haven't gotten back to my last cake-off winner. That will probably not happen until next week.

For running, I went down (by the shortest route) to a connector in my neighborhood map (under heavy revision) between the SW Aoyama part and the SE Aoyama part and then did the one loop. Originally, a loop around the Ginjuu Stadium would have have been included with this, but the bridge is out, so that part remains cut off (and it's connected by a bridge, so in the revised version, it would be considered a a separate course). Anyway, I needed to look at my map during this first run, but it's a very simple route, simple street pattern, and familiar area, so I don't expect to have to practice it much.

Monday I went to P. Shima again and got their Croissant and their Pain aux Raisins. Unfortunately, I did not think about how cold it would be (I'm used to cake, where I want it cold), so I didn't really eat them under optimal conditions. I'll need to standardize things, perhaps, and redo all reviews to be serious about pastries. I'll mention that I got two not because I was feeling greedy, but because I was cheap: 260 yen pastry become two for 400 yen after 6 pm, so I got both this week's pastries. I'll maybe bake at home on Friday, if I need something. I ran on nearby bits of neighborhoods around Akasaka and found flaws and that there is a Ginza Cozy Corner that I hadn't noticed (not at all recommended, but I ought to include it on the map and route and so sample and post about it eventually, unfortunately).

Jean-Paul Hévin: Bûchette O'clock

As planned, I did a long (~35 km) run through the 7 neighborhood courses that I had been practicing/revising so far. Through no special effort (as I haven't memorized any distance points), I at least averaged my target speed, which was 8 km/h. I was very satisfied with this experience, compared to running long main roads deep into the suburbs for the same distance, though now I want to decompose all the courses into their constituent loops and links and further simplify where I can. I'll give up avoiding overlapping and instead try to stick to what I think are the best roads for the goal. On the way, besides a couple packets of cookies, I got a yeast croissant from Heart Bread Antique, which opened my eyes to their maybe be split between bread croissants and pastry croissants, which is also probably true of other breads/pastries. Not sure whether it is worth making a distinction, but I'm after pastries. Still, this croissant was good and they definitely have other things that I'm willing to call pastries, so I'm expanding the corresponding map to include it (obviously, I did that already just before running, but I still hadn't added an icon).

The cake of the day, after I got back, was Bûchette O'clock from Jean-Paul Hévin, part of the their week-before-Christmas lineup. They had something like this last year that I only noticed on the last time and had time for one, which I had thought was excellent, but this one, while good, wasn't special to me. It's bergamot orange biscuit, yuzu chiboust, raspberry compote, and Madagascar cacao mousse. There's also lots of decorative chocolate, but the cake was a little soft and bland for me and the decorative chocolate did not really add the right texture element to balance it. Maybe I didn't eat it right or maybe fancy cake isn't what I want after a long run (though I ate a normal lunch first). Anyway, it's JPH, which is my top priority, so I'll make a point to get to the other cakes regardless and see whether they work better for me. In the meantime, I need to work on updating my old neighborhood area maps and trying on the next. When I get it up to 50+ km total, I'l maybe try another long run over the set.

Bien-être: Apple Chiboust

In response to it's cake-off win last Friday, I did a visit to Bien-être, though I'd be there soon again anyway. The running was not so fast, as its cold and I was not patient enough to stretch much. It was about 9 km/h mostly with a total of 11 km (there were some shopping-related detours).

The cake was the current chiboust, which is Apple Chiboust (translated). It was excellent, which does not surprise me based on their previous chiboust. Like many of their cakes, it has a sort of homemade feel and yet taken up to the next level, so this was like apple pie but wonderfully chiboust.

As catch-up, I'll finally note also that I had some Jean-Paul Hévin poundcake-type cake recently, if that's a fair description: Cake Chocolat Grand Marron, which is their chocolate cake with candied chestnuts, so pretty decadent, but excellent. We got this is Kyoto, though it might be available in other shops. I'm still committed to fresh cake, but I wouldn't turn down more of their other products.

Bien-etre: Chiboust au Pistache

Despite foot problems last night, things seemed better today. Need to get that balance between being too stiff and maybe spraining my ankle trying to stretch, I guess. I ran 5+ km each way to Bien-etre at 8+ km/h. It was a good run in that it made me feel better about my ability to run and my ability to enjoy running.

This was my fourth cake from Bien-etre, as I try to get all 18 shops in my Excellent shop list up to four cakes (there are several at three, all ones I can get too on a workday, if I want to). My goal is to have 16, so I'd like to demote one and promote one. I ate in, as I've done before, since they have a reasonable amount of space. There were even two other customers eating in. I went with the Chiboust au Pistache (a.k.a. Pistachio & Grapefruit Chiboust), because I've never seen a pistachio chiboust before, I want to like pistachio (though I'm often disappointed), and I usually have good luck with chibousts. Their cakes always have a sort of rough almost homemade feel, which usually is a bad sign but works for them. This one had a big tart base with pineapple mixed in with the filling (sorry, it's mostly hidden by the paper, though you can see some grapefruit on top) and then a thick chiboust layer, in which the pistachio was not a strong taste, but it did not need to be (and maybe can't because, because chiboust is so light). It was all good, and I'm to say it was great, even if I'm not totally confident that I won't be less impressed the next time, like I was with last weekends cake-off contestants, and that's fine. I certainly enjoyed this cake more than my weekend cakes, so it deserves some recognition.

Now that I've recovered my faith in running and my faith that I have not lost my taste for cake, so that even just Excellent shops cane impress me sometimes, I think I'll take a day off from both cake and running tomorrow, just to get some things done around the house, since I never have time for most things, like most people.

[Fri] Yu Sasage: Chiboust Mangue Passion, Deux Fromage ｄ’Été, and Savarin Pêche Melba

Did my running early, in a winding path through Akasaka to Tokyo Midtown, where Toshi Yoroizuka continue to not have old favorites (though I'll visit for something new soon, so it matters that they have something, though I'm not sure that I'll go to Midtown for it). Set off thinking I might do some sort of speed or pace training at Meiji Gaien, but it was too hot and humid (i.e., not raining). I think I did 9 km at about 9 km/h, but I was using paths that Google Maps does not allow (cutting through the park-like path and bridge between a couple buildings), so couldn't calculate very exactly.

In the evening, there was a request for cake, and since Yu Sasage was available and convenient, we went there.

The first cake I had half of was the Chiboust Mangue Passion, which is what it sounds like (a mango and passion fruit chiboust). As chiboust's go, it was more gelatinous (versus airy) than I expected, but still I thought it was excellent. The "egg wash", if I'm getting the translation correct for the Japanese-French, for the bottom caramel tart has mango, as well as banana, whereas the chiboust part has the passion fruit, according to the description. I look chiboust and this as different without being bad, so I found it excellent.

The second cake was Deux Fromage ｄ’Été, which is a summer two-layer (baked and rare) cheesecake flavored with pineapple confit and passion fruit and mango gelatin. I thought the cake was a little grainy, somehow, and also, the rare was pretty soft and the baked part was harder than some I've had, so I was really not appreciating the texture and construction of this one. However, the taste was still good, so this counts as good cake.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same of the last one, which was Savarin Pêche Melba, a baba with a peach liquor and white wine based syrup, a raspberry glazing, some peach confit, vanilla cream, I think accepted with baked white chocolate somewhere, though I'm not sure where, and uncredited almond slices. This was just too dry for me and did not have much taste. Not it was was bad as sponge goes, but what's the point of a dry baba?

Il Pleut sur la Seine: Chiboust Poire

Was feeling tired today, though less so (relative to other return runs) on the way back, so it all came about to about 9 km/h for around 10 km total. I am looking particularly at the excellent shops that I've only had three cakes from to see whether any are candidates as new potentially quite excellent shops. It could still wash out later, but I got another great cake, so Il Pleut sur la Seine gets promoted.

The cake was a Chiboust Poire (670 yen). I like a good chiboust, which not everyone makes. This shop seems to do best with the standards, probably related to them having their own school. Eventually I should compare this with other chibousts that I've said are great and see really stands out, but for now I'm just happy to have something different and something great. Basically, the base is like a pear tart, and then you have the eggy part and a top hard
caramelized layer.

I also received a Galette Noir, which was excellent, as far as I can tell from just one cookie.

Limevert: Chiboust Chocolat

Today, I went to an under-visited potentially (because I've still only sampled a few cakes) quite excellent shop, Limevert, which is along the Odakyu Odawara Line, Soshigayaohkura Station, in Soshigaya, Setagaya-ku. To avoid Shibuya, I went by way of the road west from Yoyogi Station. It's about 13 km each way, which I did averaging 10 km/h, though faster out than back. They have a relatively big (several tables) café space set up, so I ate in, as you can tell from the photo.

The cake is Chiboust Chocolat (540 yen), which is a disk of chocolate chiboust on a raspberry custard tart (no nuts, the little nuggets are crust) and excellent, so I suppose I'll be back there again next weekend, conditions permitting. Think I'll try the slightly more direct rough through Harajuku, though, more for variation than dissatisfaction with today's route.

Jean-Paul Hévin (Marunouchi): Guérande,

I'm behind, so this is on Tuesday. I had a busy schedule of running planned, though it required modification and the cake side was mixed, like last time.

First, I had to stop by a local shrine and get rid of a worn out charm (or so I was told). Then it was off to the Isetan Men's Salone, which has a Jean-Paul Hévin chocolate "café". I was looking for new cakes, but the reason I was expecting there might be something was that Valentine's Day is coming up and they had multiple special cakes for Christmas, but they said they we're not doing anything special for cake for this holiday. However, they had Guérande (グランド; 583 yen), which I hadn't had, so I sat down and had it. What I was told was that there was salt and also crepe, giving it crunch, both true, I think. At the same time, I was readying the card and only got to chiboust, which I think is just that little line in the middle, since I couldn't see that any of the rest of it was especially egg heavy. It was definitely excellent, I thought as I ate it, but was it really great if I compared it to other chocolate cakes that were great? I thought probably not. However, the problem was I then didn't drink enough water and didn't brush my teeth or even wash my mouth out. So even though it did not seem salty when I ate it, baked crepe tends to stick in the back teeth and I ended up tasting the salt for the rest of the run, which I do not like, though it was not so strong as to make me feel sick (which salt can do to me, if it's like big crystals on a pretzel or chocolate. So be careful careful of the after effects if you have this cake, but most people don't just eat a piece of cake with a little water and then run.

Next task was to go to Dalloyau to see whether they had Opale (or Opalé?), so I could compare it to another cake over the weekend. In fact, no, and it does not have a regular schedule, so I had to scrap my weekend plan and come up with something else to compare a rather unusual cake from Origines Cacao (which may not have that cake, either), thus being behind now. Anyway, the goal was information, so job done. I had been planning to go another two blocks for my cake that day, but since JPH had had something new, that was out, so instead I headed home. However, since I was off plan, I just sort of winged it and went back zig-zagging on a lot of different roads that I usually never use (and now know not too, since they are mainly too crowded with people for the sidewalk width).

In total, I ran about 11 km (I walked in Ginza and coming out as far as Hibiya Park), all at 12 km/h, though on the low side (around 11.7 km/h).
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Jean-Paul Hévin, Marunouchi, Chuo-ku, Guérande, Tokyo cake, running, salt, chiboust, feuillantine, chocolate,

Viron, Chiboust aux Marrons

I'll lead with the cake: I ran to Viron (as always, the Marunouchi one) and got the Chiboust aux Marrons for 810 yen (really, but it's big), which is a chiboust top and a bottom that is sort of like a tart with chestnut halves in it. I'm slow to come around to chestnuts, but I'm getting there. Just the base as a chestnut tart is excellent, and I would like to see more chibousts and I've never had a better chestnut chiboust, so I'm saying this is great, which is 6th of 10 tried that I've found great there.

The running was too fast. Even noticing that my first kilometer was over 9 km/h, I couldn't get the average below 8.5 km/h going out, although I did coming back (still not going far enough or fast enough for fatigue to be a big factor). I'm seriously chewing through my 7-day running budget, which is why I've only run 31 km compared to my peak walking only a couple months ago of over 70 km (although I also have 20 km cycling this week, which counts only 1/4 of running). Of course, shorter and faster is more efficient and the best cake targets are somewhat close, although I'm going to have to just do the Gaien Walk again (even if I do 9 km/h again, I'll still be within budget) and get cake from Isetan (it's about time I had Jean-Paul Hévin cake again anyway, though I need to get to the Marunouchi location, too).

In home baking news, I started a new cake, which uses a pistachio macaron shell as a base. It's just a simple substitution of pistachio powder for almond power (simple if you can get the powder), but so delicious. Actually, it seems to "macaronage" a lot quicker, so I have to be careful not to over-mix. I had a fancy recipe with egg yolk and syrup which I failed with, at the stage of combining those two, so I went with a simple American pistachio buttercream, which might be too sweet. I'll try to wing a pistachio marzipan buttercream next time (I've still got lots of pistachio powder and enough pistachio paste for another batch), although probably not soon, as I've got a few dozen macarons in the freezer now, not all that successful, though: lots of chocolate ones with cracked shells and ones with chocolate-strawberry ganache, which isn't well balanced. You'll notice that I don't die the shells, or cover them when baking to keep them from getting brown.
 

Paris S'eveille: Monsieur Arnaud

I went a not very direct (at least at the beginning) route down to Jiyugaoka by bicycle. First I went to Cuoca, got some 7.5 cm brioche forms (I may finally have enough, although maybe not for cheesecake pie tartlets, which might require 18), some carob powder (I'm curious abut carob brownies), and cacao mass (usually I substitute powder in brownies without replacing the missing fat and like the results, but my fudge brownies are completely unfudgie, at least until I start substituting in almond powder for flour; in short, I'm not good about following recipes and it's not because I know better).

Then I went to Paris S'éveille to have great cake, which I was successful at. I got the Monsieur Arnaud for 650 yen + 8% tax and hot Choco a l'Orange for 760 yen + 8%. The drink was good, although not necessary (actually, buying a drink might have been necessary to eat in and they are all about the same level of priciness). The cake is chocolate cream on top of and between probably milk chocolate above a hazelnut base. The bottom of he base is definitely baked cake (with hazelnut power), then the middle of the base has large pieces of nuts, but there was another praline layer on top that probably has a specific technical name, but I don't know enough, even if I throw out terms sometimes when someone provides them in a description. This great cake has some similarities to recent chocolate cakes from other great stores that I referred to as almost chocolate bar like maybe, but this one pushed back the balance someone toward cake and was better for it, I think.


Having had great cake, I decided to visit a shop Joshi+ posted on that I rightly had low expectations of. I should really stay away from these homemade style shops. This one was Kabocha, which does this with kabocha, which is the standard Japanese pumpkin equivalent. Basically, they do pie-like tarts. I tried the Kabocha Chibust, apparently, although I thought the name listed was Caramel Pumpkin, but it doesn't really matter. I was definitely okay, but not enough to get me back.

Being completely greedy today for some reason, I stopped at Fraoula, where I got meringue cookies (actually, Muguet, "Lily"), despite urging to get some fresh cake sometime (I'm a little too recognizable, so they know I haven't bought cake there for some time, despite once being a frequent customer). I had already eaten almost half of these at the time of taking the picture, because they are excellent (I need to hide them now).

Saturday: Viron

No running, of course, but definitely a week-on-week improvement in my right leg. Friday, by walking only somewhat more slowly than usual, I could arrive at work without pain, and other walking pain that day was more numbness than tear-inducing pain, so I'm optimistic that I'll be able to run again. I'm hoping that I'll be able to walk normally for reasonable distances by next weekend. Still working out inside, both upper-body exercises (although I'm doing push-ups from the knees) and a lot of squats.

Saturday, I went out to Mitsukoshi for another form for tarts (not actually a tart form: Cuoca lists it as for brioche). I wanted exactly one more, and that's exactly what they had of that size, probably because I bought seven last weekend. And I bought another half kilogram of pecan halves.

At Mitsukoshi, I got also a Dalloyau croissant, which was great (but no picture, sorry), beautifully layered and flaky and only 216 yen. So they and Fraoula have the best croissants that I've found, and I need to try Lettre d'Amour's again.

The store cake for today was from Viron again, Chiboust Poire Vinrouge for 648 yen. Inside the chiboust are large slices of wine-red pear (I assume from red wine, but I haven't read the card all the way through yet). It's both simple and complex. I don't think this is a regular item, so get it while you can.

At home, I made pecan tarts using my small forms. I used a pecan pie filling from Better Homes & Gardens and the crust is from one of my mixer cookbooks, although it came out very crumbly this time, due to being very cold in the room, so I didn't really mix until smooth, but just until I had fine crumbs that I could form into balls with the heat of my hands. I wonder if my cheap 100-yen shop eggs are also a factor, since maybe other eggs have bigger yokes. Anyway, I'm not sure that a more solid crust would be better (and I don't know how to make flaky crusts).

Also, I made pizza. It's the best use of cherry tomatoes I know and shiitake are great, although I'll try pre-grilling them a couple minutes less next time, and I'll take the trouble to make garlic and red pepper tofu cubes instead of using almonds.