Frédéric Cassel, Pavlova Fraise

I had the afternoon off, so after a little running (about 1 km, which is the most I'm trying in a given day), I did a long walk to Ginza, which I got a new cake from Frédéric Cassel in response to their cake-off win. I got Pavlova Fraise, the first pavlova I've had from them. Best guess as this will become the new base cake for the monthly theme. Compare to other pavlova, they went light on the meringue, which is reasonable, and more healthy. Instead, it featured more cream, which they say leans toward cheese, which I could see. The fruit is strawberry compote with a hint of balsamic vinegar, so that's new in my ingredients labels. I'll say that it was excellent and look forward to other flavors, if this is a series.

Musée Du Chocolat Théobroma, Diable

Sunday, I started with this small item, which I got as my 4(+1 for a cake-off win)th cake from Musée Du Chocolat Théobroma, though most past purchases have been via their Cocoa Store shop nearer Yoyogi Park. This is Diable and is just what it looks like, chocolate custard on a chocolate puff pastry. It was definitely good, which is both better than I expected of the item just based on the concept and actually the second best "cake" I've had from this shop, so I was satisfied. 

Dandelion Chocolate, Mascarpone Chocolate Cake

Ran marginally farther than last run, which was Thursday, which means maybe an extra couple hundred meters, but probably still under 1.5 km. It wasn't as comfortable as I would want. Anyway, I made it to Dandelion Chocolate and got a new cake. They have perfect excellent record so far, which is enough to be quite fine and get a fourth cake. They don't have a huge line-up, so I could hardly double that anyway, but I would like to find a great cake, of course. I went with Mascarpone Chocolate Cake, which I've seen there before but haven't gotten. I was actually a little skeptical, since mascarpone is notoriously tasteless and just used as a medium for other flavors in cakes. I thought just the visible mousse/cream was the cheese, but the chocolate was fairly dense but cuttable, apparently due to cheese, and it definitely tasty cheesy, which is a first for mascarpone cheese cake for me. It was definitely excellent, so Dandelion Chocolate keeps their perfect record. Next I'll try the other shop with a three excellent cake record.

Vie de France, Mont-Blanc

Full disclosure, since a bakery with cake moved into the Shinanomachi Station, I felt compelled to give it a chance, but I wasn't that surprised that the result was not good. It's close enough that I could actually run the entire way. This Vie de France is in the Atré café space, next to a Starbucks. Anyway, I got the Mont-Blanc, which is in the same old-fashioned early-Japan style (in my imagination, anyway: when they were just recreating western desserts in the early days before studying cakemaking in the west) or maybe it's just a café style that is more robust. Anyway, the base is dense like pound cake but overly dry for fresh cake and making up way too much of the cake, and the top has little make up for it. It's a style, I suppose, but I can't call it more than okay, so no need to every eat cake from there again, much less buy it.  
 

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. 

(Café) Le Pommier, Mont-Blanc

I'm probably not going to catch before the weekend, but last Sunday I hit a couple local shops. Imperfect is a chocolate shop that's gotten out of the cream puff business, so they no longer have anything that qualifies as fresh cake. Next in that neighborhood was (Café) Le Pommier, from which I got a Mont-blanc. I'd probably have a bigger selection if I went to one of the regular shops, but I was only looking for a fourth cake, so this seemed good enough. It's got the meringue-type base but the unusual feature is a chocolate coating. That's not a bad idea, but wasn't really making this special. Still a good cake, but probably not enough to keep this shop in the quite fine category. 

Pierre Hermé, Tarte Infiniment Chocolat

I'm coming back to pick up a cake I skipped reporting, accidently, from before last weekend. From their cake-off win, I owed Pierre Hermé a cake, which I picked up from the Isetan Shinjuku counter. I really like the Tarte Infiniment Chocolat au Lait, so I thought I'd try the Tarte Infiniment Chocolat, though I think I misread the card, as I thought it had some pralin going on, but no, just chocolate. Still, it was up to their Tarte Inifiniment standard, and the chocolate was excellent, so I can't complain. 

Viron, Praliné Orange

Wednesday (and I found this draft, but not sure what order they were originally), I visited Viron, thinking that they might bring out some new cakes just for Christmas, since they at least had one special Christmas cake last year. As it happens they did. I don't have my notes, but I got lucky and found a picture on Tabelog, so I got the name and confirmed the flavors. The memorable part was pâte pralinée, and I correctly remembered that the fruit flavor was orange. My memory is that it was definitely excellent, enough to consider whether it should be added to the greats, as a representative of fairly traditional cakes of nutty biscuit cake and cream layers, but I have Marjolaine, so I'm fine with not making a special effort to have this specific cake again, though I high approve. Also, it seems like a bakery patisserie kind of cake, so it's reasonable to want more like this. Considering that my backup plans was to try 1st cake from Pronto (which I was reminded recently has a shop in Aoyama, I was quite pleased. 

Viron, Pomme Caramel

Thursday (sometime in December, as I just found this draft), I had the day off to prepare for a busy long weekend. In the morning, I had a hard-to-get-to shop lined up, but more cakes from Viron is a higher priority and I'm not sure how long cakes introduced at Christmas will stick around, so I went there first and got the Pomme Caramel. This is was definitely a nice cake, but apple is a pretty weak flavor in general and they choose not to go so heavy on the caramel as to drown it out, which I can respect, so while good and enjoyable, and of course high quality, it wasn't something particularly interesting to me.

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.

L'Atelier Motozo, Torta di Ricotta

Did what passing for running with me these days, 1-min intervals, but only about 20 intervals, and then just walking, due to my knee. After confirming that Viron had nothing new (though the Valentine's cakes were gone), I made a 4th visit to (L'atelier) Motozo in Miguro-ku. They're only open 4 hours a day, 4 days a week now, with no café or bar visible. They do Italian desserts, so not a lot for me. I've already had their mont-blanc (and a variation) and one other cake. This time I went with their cheesecake, Torta di Ricotta, which seemed like my best chance. Still, it didn't look particularly encouraging, reminding of me of a café cake from Kobe, though that one was probably pretty good, now that I think about it. Anyway, it was much better than I expected, probably better than average for patisserie cheesecake overall, which is impressive. However, it's a tough call and I think I have to go with calling this definitely good, which isn't going to be enough to keep it in the quite fine group if I make a cut. Still need to find 7 more better shops, though.

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. 

Amitié, Gateau au Chocolat

Top of the list of quite fine shops to visit for a fourth cake was Amitie up in Tsukijimachi. Most of their selection was tartelettes with different toppings that looked more like something from a bakery, not that what I choose was different in that respect, Gateau au Chocolat. This is fairly dry, but not inappropriately so, café-style cake, which is appropriate, since their were young couples inside eating in, making me think I should have spent more time waiting outside (but I didn't know one other customer was going to tie up all three of the staff). However, it wasn't better than good, so this shop is likely to get cut from the quite fine group and not visited again (but still a fine shop).

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.

Il Pleut sur la Seine, Le Turin

No cake and little running during the short week, but indoor exercise. Saturday I had a couple appointments, so didn't try a cake-off, but went for the last two (simple) exceptional shops I wanted another new cake for. After the morning appointment, I went to Il Pleut sur la Seine. They are only open a short time every week and they are expensive, but their main thing is the school, so maybe they do best with the basics. I got Le Turin, which if not basic, at least uses basic elements. The biscuit is hazelnut, which gives a special flavor and a nice texture. As the name suggests, the main flavor is chestnut, in different kinds of cream. The chestnut flavor isn't so heavy and it harmonizes well with the hazelnut. So good quality, interesting combination, and solids basic elements make this an excellent cake.

Très Calme, Chic

Last Monday was a holiday, Coming of Age Day. I visited another exceptional shop, this time Très Calme. The new cake I chose was Chic, which is passion fruit and, I think, apricot. Though I haven't been bothering to report about pastries lately, but I want to say that the I'll mention that I also got a Kouign Amann as my first fresh pasty from there and I thought it was maybe great, being of the same form as Paris S'eveille, which has been my favorite. I look forward to visiting there further for pastries. I ran and walked there, but walked back, and not by the shortest route, so I got a good amount of exercise.

Back to the cake Chic, the fruit part manages to be firm without being stick-gelatinous or runny and the fruits harmonize into mellow but satisfying flavor. The texture along with the flavor make this an excellent cake for me, so Très Calme remain in good standing among the exceptional shops. This was my best new cake of the long holidays. 

Coffee Parlor Hilltop, Pistache Chocolat (dome)

So, Sunday I went for one quite excellent shop and one quite superb shop, since I figured I wasn't going to get any cakes once the workweek restarted, which is turning out to more true than I expected (even if Isetan would open their normal hours, I couldn't get cake this week, from long work hours).

I started with a run/walk to Coffee Parlor Hilltop for an 8th cake from them. The cake that got them counted as exceptional was one great cake, Pistache Chocolat. Sunday too, they had a cake with that name, but it was obviously much different, so I gave it a try. This one I'll call Pistache Chocolat (dome) to keep it straight. Like it's name-sake, it has strawberry, perhaps much more. Inside the dome, there is a relatively lot of strawberry sauce for a nominally pistachio and chocolate cake. I'll say that it was colder than I should have eaten it (that sauce was a good heat sink). Even though I like cakes with an outer coating, this wasn't working as particular special. I appreciate the type and it was good, but this shop might have a tough time staying in the exceptional group, as any of the quite fine ones could challenge it with a great fourth cake, and there are a lot of shops in that list needing a fourth cake. 

Sadaharu Aoki, Tarte Chocolat

Was at Isetan looking from something from a superb shop that won a cake-off, but saw a new cake from quite superb shop at Sadaharu Aoki, so change of plans. It was their Tarte Chocolat. I haven't seen an announcement, and I'm not sure any special details, but it's a pretty standard cake with a self-explanatory name. I judged immediately it was excellent. As basic as this cake is, it's not so common, so it's difficult to make comparisons when they are months or years apart. This was was fairly solid, which is common, but it makes it less cake-like. I guess I'm reminded that the simplicity is limiting, so I'm not sure how to distinguish the excellent from the great without a much better appreciation of the differences in chocolate, which I haven't managed to develop yet.

The running, as I mentioned last time, was difficult due to my knee. I want to say I was also increasing the distance daily, working up to two loops around Akasaka Palace, plus the run there and back (though the running part of the latter was probably shortened a little by grocery shopping on certain days).