La Précieuse, Montelimar and Waguri Mont-Blanc

Though it doesn't feel so long ago now, last Saturday I got a couple cakes for two from one of the shops on my quite fine group, La Précieuse on the north side of the Yotsuya Station building. I got the take-out, though they have a café space that I've used before. My choice was Montelimar, since I've had good luck with at least one cake of that name, and I like pistachio (hard to see in the picture, but the bottom is pistachio cream) and I think the top is mousse with honey and fruit. It was good. 

The other cake was the Waguri (domestic chestnut) Mont-Blanc. The sign says that you have to wait a couple minutes, because they make them fresh, but I think they didn't take so much time in the backroom. It also was good and had a meringue base, if I'm remembering correctly. So it's definitely a fine shop, but will get cut if I every manage to do a cut (I'm running out of shops to test, so it will probably depend on whether I add any new shops that make it to that level).

Pascal Le Gac, Chocolat Framboise

After finding that the current address for Schloss Backerei is a residence, so they don't even have a Tokyo shop (though they are selling packaged sweets online and as shop-up/visiting counters at department stores, so they haven't given up), I decided to visit Pascal Le Gac for a 4th cake from a maybe quite fine shop. I went with the Chocolat Framboise, as being reasonably priced while most cakish. On the way back, I looked at various places for scones without finding anything I was satisfied with. I have enough cake for today, so I should probably do scones tomorrow, when I want to go out to Omotesandou anyway, though I was hoping for something new from a bakery. Few bakeries deal with them, versus coffee shops. Speaking of both, the bakery next to Starbucks at Shinanomachi has cake. It's a pretty low-level bakery chain shop, but on the root local course (which I'm not running, but still using for reference) so it should be my next new cake shop visit.

I'm delaying saying that I wasn't into the Chocolat Framboise at all. The flavor is fine, but I don't like the gummy texture of the frosting (though not outside the normal for a certain kind of glazing) or having a gelatinous raspberry layer in the middle (but still a pretty standard cake thing, e.g., the mille-feuille of F. Cassel) and too much raspberry with the chocolate for me (with that much raspberry, I'd rather lose the chocolate completely). Still, objectively, it's completely reasonable, so I can say it's good, but not for me. This shop may not make the next cut, but only if I can find enough that can. 

Frédéric Cassel, Mandarine Mangue

Was over at Ginza Mitsukoshi last weekend and picked up one new cake, Mandarine Mangue. It was good, but not too exciting. Maybe I'm just not into fruit enough. 

Marbre Vegan, Gateau Chocolat & Strawberry Shortcake

 Unplanned, got a couple cakes from a shop that replaced Frips. As the name implies, a vegan cake place. I choose a Gateau Chocolat and the other cakes was Strawberry Shortcake. The other cakes available were an apple tart and a blueberry tart.

The shortcake seemed fine and not so different from others, though I'm not the best judge. The chocolate flavor of the Gateau Chocolat was fine, so I a believe them that it's fancy French chocolate. As cake, it wasn't bad but it doesn't really have the texture I want from cake. It's a little dry, though not really in a bad way or a café cake that's sat around too long (or is made to be able to sit around a long time). Anyway, sorry I can't rate them better and I won't resist interest in trying other cakes from them, but I won't actively pursue them.  

Le Pan, Yasutomi Yuzu and Praliné Paris-Bres, Gateau Le Pan, & Chocolat Orange

My first choice was Yasutomi Yuzu and Praliné Paris-Brest. The choux pastry was typical. The Yuzu cream was fine. The pâte pralinée was quite dense, like the chestnut paste of a mont-blanc, which I don't have any problem with in general. The cake was good and did balance some different good tastes, though maybe the whole wasn't exceptional compared to the parts. Still, a good cake that increases my confidence in this shop.

The second cake, which I only had one forkful of, is called just Gateau Le Pan and is a standard Japanese strawberry shortcake. It seemed good to me and was confirmed by the other partaker.

The third cake we could agree was the best, the Chocolat Orange. While a traditional combination, the balance is not automatic. This was a very rich chocolate which went with what was like a mikan orange, though I don't know the details. I say rich, but it was not dark chocolate, but rather Valrhona milk chocolate mousse, apparently (I found their whole cake ad). Anyway, it works for me. I'm going to label this was great, as I'd like to have it again, which makes my first great Kobe cake, though that's from a small sample that isn't likely to get that much bigger, as I don't get down here so much as I might have first expected. What I can I say: Tokyo is more comfortable for all evolved. Anyway, next time I come back this shop should be my top priority, as I think I've visited all the main ones that aren't available in Tokyo. I'm curious about the main shops of a couple of those, which might have something to explain their longevity despite the low level of good they exhibit in Tokyo. 

Sadaharu Aoki, Chocolat Pistache

Like my Tuesday plan, my Wednesday plan veered off course, with good results. The Tokyo Palace Hotel was visiting Isetan, and I wanted to get a second cake from them. The cheapest options were a tiny grape shortcake for 800 yen and a similarly priced chestnut whipped cream (not cake, apparently, just a mount of whipped cream). I'm not that into fruit-center stuff, so I wasn't too excited and decided I could wait until next week. Getting ahead (because I'm late writing), I swung by their deli and sweets shop the next day and found that they had those two cakes, at lower prices, as well as the broader section that I was hoping for. Since the Isetan counter just mentions the hotel, I'll assume they are selling things from the café menu, at their eat-in prices. Also, the Isetan counter had a least one higher-end grape tart that I didn't see in the shop, which fits that explanation.

But I was in Isetan and it was a new month, so while JPH doesn't have anything new (until the week before Christmas, as usual), Sadaharu Aoki does and I'm always behind on them. As it turned out, it was the same kind of cake as the previous day: Chocolat Pistache. In this case, the cake was about double the size, but less intense. Still, it was excellent, so I was satisfied again.

Ron Herman Café: Cheesecake and Mont-Blanc

I was busy on the weekend, but did a first visit to the Ron Herman Café in Sendagaya and had lunch and cake for two. The cakes were their Cheesecake, which has fresh grapes, and a Mont-Blanc. For a café, this place has a pretty good selection, which was one reason for choosing it, plus it's not in a crowded area, though fairly busy (not sure where people come from, since it's far from the standard shopping areas, and yet they continue, though obviously on people's radars). Too much gelatin on the top of the cheesecake for me, but definitely good cake, with amount of sour cream sourness that I miss in a lot of cheesecakes here. 

I thought the Mont-Blanc was also definitely, but it was pointed out that it had a sort of amateurish disorder. The base is about 1 centimeter thick of something between a dense pound cake and a sablé-type cookie, which is a bit unusually, but probably useful for a café. I suspect both the base and the cheesecake are prepared in advance at a remote location and the top parts are added locally.

Anyway, good enough that it should count as a cake shop on my local running map, but not good enough that I'll probably get back to it now that I've had two cakes.
 

Sanjikken, Sachertorte and Cheesecake

Had a visit to a café/coffee salon (with waiters) on Aoyama-doori near Omote-Sandou Sta.: Sanjikken. It's on the second floor, so I had never seen inside. We (cake for two) were lucky, as we were seated rather quickly. When we left, there were at least ten people waiting. I considered it worth visiting even if I don't need to hit every café and coffee shop, because they advertise cake, specifically the Sachertorte by picture, on the sign by the door. I haven't had a sachertorte for a while, but it seemed excellent, perhaps the best I've had. If I finding myself needing something in a Starbucks again, I'll get their to compare as some sort of reference so I know I'm not just imagining things. This seemed to be a one-layer type, with apricot jam on top of the cake, under the icing, but I suppose it's possible that there were two layers and I just couldn't tell. I'm too hurried to check the two main schools of sachertorte now.

I also has some Cheesecake, which was soufflé-type, I think, rather than the dense type I prefer, but still definitely good, so the shop gets in the stable part (won't get denoted when I finally have enough better shops to split this bloated group) of the fine shops group.

Noix de Beurre, Cheesecake

The other Noix de Beurre cake-for-two from three weekends back was the the Cheesecake, which was good, but plain, which is sort of their thing: the basic cakes with no surprises.

Noix de Beurre, Peach Tart

At Isetan, bought cake for two. I didn't have anything particular I needed, so I didn't choose. The main attraction was the seasonal Peach Tart, which is a whole peach compote (with honey and lemon) with custard inside on a tart base. It's certainly good. Not sure how focused the picture is, but other online pictures look similar, so it might just be the glossiness of the peach rather than the focus on the plastic. 

Frédéric Cassel, Fleur de Shuro

Catching up for the week, Wednesday, I got out to Ginza Mitsukoshi for a new cake from Frédéric Cassel. There were three choices, and I went for the one most against my preference, just because it was most different and FC is good at overcoming my prejudices. I got the Fleur de Shuro, or that's that I think it was, where shuro is the name of a genus of Asian palms, which doesn't really make sense in context. This is a good solid almond biscuit, which is really important for balance and texture against all the soft parts. Obviously, it's a gelatin dome, though the inside isn't so gelatinous.  There's streusel in there, obviously not dry, cherry compote, cherry mousse, and cherry cream (cherries are Western and Eastern), and elderflower is the other flavor, which I hope was inside, as I didn't eat the decoration (I've been burned in the past). On the edge of my comfortable zone, and yet it all works together, as a different kind of cake, to give an excellent result.

No running, just bicycling to Mitsukoshi and doing muscle training inside, which I've managed to do every weekday so far. Thursday I didn't get patisserie cake, but I did managed to run 45 minutes as well as 15 minutes muscle training (squats, curls, and shoulder and back exercises).

Kyobashi Sembikiya, Fruits Savarin

Saturday, I was busy, but was offered cake, and I guess I was tired, because I accepted buying at Odakyu rather than going to Isetan, just because it was too hard to think what I wanted at Isetan (whereas I know there's nothing I want at Odakyu). Anyway, Kyobashi Sembikiya is not bad, so we got a couple things, including, I think Fruits Savarin. Note that this had no alcohol taste, just fruit, but otherwise was reasonably good. The other is a melon bavarois, which could be an ingredient of cake, but here is just cream, so I'm not keeping track of it. It was fine, and the melon was more memorable than the other fruit, at least.

Konditerei Kobe, White Cheese Roll

For completeness, I'll mention that Friday of last week (and Saturday), I had slices of Koditerei Kobe's White Cheese Roll, which I suspect was bought at Kobe Airport. It was good, but very white(bread).

Imperfect, Choux Cream Chocolate

Last Saturday, I was busy, so no running, but I did make a first visit to Imperfect in Omotesandou Hills. They do nuts, chocolates, ice cream coffee, and choux cream, which I count as fresh cakes, since they require refrigeration for the filling. Only one of the three types was available, and I could buy the one in the early afternoon. I got Choux Cream Chocolate (not sure how to spell with the French-English mix). The choux pasty didn't seem like anything special (though also not bad), but the chocolate filling was definitely rich, so it gets an excellent.

Akito, Marjolaine and Saint-Marc

Friday, I got two cakes to go for two from Akito. Actually, I had misunderstood where I was supposed to go for cakes, but I had been here once before the cake was at least good. This time I got to classics, Saint-Marc and Marjolaine. Or at least, I expected these to be classics (or maybe they are and I've been eating the modern improvements), but the Saint-Marc had really thick sponge layers (more sponge than cream), which I could never imagine as an improvement. it wasn't bad, just the diluted the taste of the cake from somewhat subtle to completely bland, so I can't say this was more than okay.

I'm not sure what was going on with the Marjolaine, which broke into dry pieces when cut and didn't have much texture, like there was no egg white in the biscuit, maybe; something seemed weird, anyway. Now I'm going to have to get abvt's version to remember what can be great about a marjolaine. Also only okay.

I assume that these were exactly as designed and I just don't like the style of cakes so much, but either way I need to stay away from this place, I guess.

Yoshinori Asami: Caramel Pomme

Last Thursday I caught Yoshinori Asami and got the Caramel Pomme, which is a modern shaped cake, though it got a little mangled on the wrong side, so I took the picture from the top. The bottom is an apple tart and the main part is caramel mousse with apple compote. I haven't had much luck with these in the past, but this one was definitely excellent, so Yoshinori Asami stays as a exceptional shop.

Pierre Hermé, Tarte Rose et Jasmin

Finally got to Isetan (by virtue of taking PM off Thursday) and got a new cake from Pierre Hermé in response to their recent cake-off winner. I even got the (probably) monthly cake I was targeting:  Tarte Rose et Jasmin. This looks a lot like their vanilla tart, which is one of their great cakes. I had this after a half lunch, before even running (there was afternoon running for more cake, to catch up from lots of overtime work this and the previous week, and then evening running). This cake was definitely excellent. I really like this solid tart. The mascarpone cheese has a good texture, but no flavor, so it's good for adding sutler flavors. I think even Earl Grey tea was a little strong for this cake, but in general I prefer stronger cake, so I doubt it makes a huge difference, just something to think about for next time. This is a good enough showing that the shop is not in danger for it's superb shop position from challengers below, for the moment.

Viron: Tarte (Pear) and Tarte Tatin

Sunday, went to Viron (with a reservation) for a nice lunch for two. For dessert, we had Tarte Tatin, which I've had before, but can't find a posting for, so must of been preblog, and the seasonal tart, which was pear. The tatin was great, as before. Apparently, the season would usually be over but is extended this year, so it's still possible to get.

The seasonal pear tart was a pretty standard baked tart, but baking is what Viron is good at, so it was definitely excellent. I need to get over there more often. This is the only place I know with great café desserts (though there are places that sell their take-out cakes for eating in that have some great cakes), despite trying various other places, so I've pretty much given up searching.

Emporter (Yotsuya), Harmonie and Gateau Fraise

Was mostly busy over the weekend. Saturday, though, I went a couple new places. One was only semi-new, and without cake: the Pierre Hermé in Marunouchi, which sells drinks, some suitable gift items, soft ice cream, and a few baked goods. We got Marron Pie and some ice cream (orange and passion fruit, maybe). The Marron Pie counts as a pastry, though it was after 4 pm, so I'm not called it fresh. Still, it was well made, so counts as excellent within that scope: no complaints.

The soft ice cream was fine, though not within my scope of interest, even with the macarons (which were particularly hard and not like macarons I've made, so I'm suspecting the modified recipe to produce something more robust and cookie-like to stand up being stuck into ice cream, though the shape was correct).

The actual cake came from a new shop in the root clump of loops in my neighbor running course, Emporter (a name shared with a Setagaya shop). I asked for a recommendation, and had suggested Harmonie, which is white chocolate with a (suitably) limited amount of raspberry. The other cake chosen was the Gateau Fraise, though I would have gone with something dark chocolate.

I thought both cakes were good, though that standout good. However, my co-eater was quite impressed by the Gateau Fraise and its generous amount of whipped cream.

Since Japanese strawberry short  (which even the name card gave as a description) is not my thing and my partner definitely does like them, I'm to assume superior power of discernment and record the strawberry cake as excellent, which at least puts this shop in the solid part of the fine shops (important, since this this and the category above it are grossly bloated, so it would only take about ten more new shops to force me to create a new lower category for most of these shops).

Frédéric Cassel, Inspiration Azalea

Monday, I worked a little late and figured I should take a rest anyway, so I used a bicycle to go to Ginza for cake. My first choice shop's new cake has coffee, so I'll wait for next month. My back up was Frédéric Cassel's new cake, Inspiration Azalea, which is the cake for this month's theme of Chocolat Banane, which is an improvement on recent coffee themes but still not what I would choose. Nevertheless, this looked like my kind of cake in terms of construction, and the card promised yuzu, so not just straight chocolate and banana. I figured I could trust them. Reading the details, there is also hazelnut chocolate cream and hazelnut dacquoise. But they were serious about the banana, with almost half of the inside being banana compote. While I'm still not enthusiastic about banana, with was excellent, so if they had another banana cake now, I'd be happy to try it, but they've scaled back on the introduction of new cakes. Out of order, at home, I first also did my indoor non-weights workout.