Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Fraisier over Pierre Gagnaire's Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu

Having starting working through the two-and-two cake-off great cakes for fifth-round cake-offs and noticing the appearance of Frédéric Cassel's Fraisier, I worked it in. Also back, was Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu by Pierre Gagnaire. The latter is a unique taste, but that wasn't enough to overcome my love of pistachio, at least when presented well, so the win went to Fraisier.
 

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: Musée du Chocolat Théobroma's San Jaunquin Dos over Viron's Baba

Not finding a new cake, I did a fourth-round cake-off for two cakes with only one win each, starting with Musée du Chocolat Théobroma, where I got their main chocolate cake, San Juaquin Dos. I wanted to test it against a new cake (for take-out), Viron's Baba. These are very different, so it's hard to choose when comparing, but I could enjoy both. In the end, I'll take the chocolate cake this time, the San Juanquin Dos. This is a milder cake than the previous JPH cake-off cake. It might be interesting to compare them some time.

You might notice that I'm now 1 cake ahead for the rest of the week, so I'm ahead, but I'm about as caught up as I'll be for the current quite fine shop list, so won't be in a big hurry the next weekend, except there's a new month coming up, so their could be new cakes. I'll be head next weekend as well but catch up the following weekend, which also won't have a day off going into it. 

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.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Kibune

Lacking enough new cakes to keep Jean-Paul Hévin even even with the next lower shops, I've been giving any excellent cakes that come back into the line-up a second chance. This time it was the Kibune, which was an exclusive in Kyoto when I had it before. Top to bottom, this is pistachio nougatine over a matcha mousse that's half the cake, then a griotte cherry flavored biscuit, a little Brazilian cacao chantilly, and then a chocolate (I assume) biscuit base. Seemed great to me this time, certainly not inferior to other great JPH mousse layer cakes. I've supposed I've had a lot more experience with green tea by this point and also found other cherry cakes that I appreciate. So after getting lucky and quickly finding a partner for one great JPH cake for a cake-off, I'm back to having another seasonal cake needing a partner (which is better than the alternative of not needing one). Guess I need to needing to prioritizing shops with the best records among the ones I'm trying to visit.

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.

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.

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.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Maya

Thursday, I had the morning off and slightly ran to Fiorentina Pastry Boutique down in Roppongi Hills to find out whether they still have Estate in the line-up with they don't. That was as much as I could manage as far as running, so I walked to Ginza Mitsukoshi. The big goal was to get one of the new cakes at Jean-Paul Hévin, which I've never had before. There is also one that I've only seen in Kyoto previously, which was excellent, so I might have that again. I let one of the great ones from last month go without having again, just because I couldn't do a cake-off, which is unfortunately. This month, I don't have a match for Bergamot.

But for now, what I got was Maya, which follows the usual JPH pattern as far as chocolate cakes with layers of mousse. This uses Ecuador chocolate mousse, Provence honey nougatine, crème brûlée, a chestnut biscuit, and croustillant. This gives it relatively sharp taste (I don't really know how to describe chocolate), but that's good, great actually. 

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: 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.