Cake-off: Bien-être's Chocolat Cuit over L'Abricotier's L'Abricotier

Monday, I got a late start and ran to Ginza Mitsukoshi. There was a visiting shop there that I thought I'd sample while they were somewhat convenient, but when I asked, the two cakes remaining were special for Mitsukoshi (weren't found at the main shop), so my interest dropped below the necessary threshold. I've put them on the list of places to visit, but I don't often visit new places these days and I've got a lot of nearby targets, though not with this distinction of having been a visiting Mitsukoshi shop. I should have checked whether the sign said who's next, as Mitsukoshi doesn't list the Ginza Chocolat visiting shops under events on the homepage. In general, there is a White Day event starting, so maybe no visiting shop.

Tuesday, I took the afternoon off. It's not the best day of the week for that, but it had the advantage that the dry cleaners is open, so I took something big over. For cake, I ran to L'Abricotier (whose closed day is Monday) and got their namesake cake, the last one at about 3 pm. My navigation was not great (I know the shortest route, but am not patient at the lights and then don't recognize when i cross it later). For the second cake, I wanted Bien-être's Chocolat Cuit, but tried to cheat a look for it at Floto (which has the pictured bread place near it), their sister store, which they share a tart with and I thought that cake, but maybe not today. That store is closer and on the JR line. I walked and ran down to the main shop, which is open seven days a week, and they were well stocked (they're open later hours, so I would expect them to sell out later).

Both of these cakes have advantages. Fruity partially gelatinous cakes like the L'Abricotier are a major category that I generally don't appreciate, so this one holds a special place. In the case of Chocolat Cuit, though I like a lot of chocolate cakes, this might be the best simple, non-layered, baked chocolate cake that I know. I enjoyed both and plan to keep them on the great list, but it's hard to say that one stands above the other. I'm going to let simplicity be a tie-breaker and give the win to Chocolat Cuit, but actually they harmonized with each other very well.

Ladurée: Afternoon Tea Set

Got the full afternoon tea set from Ladurée at Ginza Mitsukoshi. I might have done that somewhere, some time before, but I don't remember where, not Ladurée, or when, not in the last few years. The sandwiches were fine. The meringue was fine. The bonbon chocolate (that I had) was fine. Tea seemed fine, though I didn't have much and I don't remember which one, except that it was one of the classics (the first choice was gone). What I had a lot of was the Chocolat Chaud, which was excellent, but not pictured. There were four macarons: the standards were Vanille and Pistache, which were both excellent, though I liked the pistachio more, the seasonal was Fleur D'Oranger, and the special was Ichigo (strawberry), the latter both being good; note that all were judged based on limited experience of macarons in general compared to cake and only half a macaron each to go by.

There were two cakes. One was a standard for the line-up, the Plaisir Sucré, which is a milk chocolate and praliné over hazelnut dacquoise, specifically praliné "crispy", milk chocolate, milk chocolate ganache, and milk chocolate chantilly. I didn't dig into it too quickly, so it reached a high enough temperature that the sweetness was high, which was what it was designed for. I'm a little suspicious of such a blatant appeal to my sweet tooth, but it seemed successful, so I'll tentatively say it was great. I expect that will get quickly tested in a cake-off. The other cake was Saint-Honoré Pistache. That was definitely good, but the pastry was a flaky pie pastry (versus other pie pastry), not choux, which surprised me. That and the butter cream pistachio frosting gave this a sort of American to me. It's not really a direction that I want my saint-honoré to go.

Gerbeaud, Gerbeaud (Szelet) and Wafuu Mont-Blanc

Back on Thursday, I tried and failed to set up a cake-off, though I did manage to have some great cake. My plan initially went off the rails because Il Pleut sur la Seine is renovating and I failed to understand the details. Right now, the shop is still open but no fresh cake. They plan to reopen at the end of May, so I'll be waiting a while. Ended up down at Paris S. in Jiyugaoka, but either they sold out early or they have an abbreviated line-up on a weekday, as they had neither the several new nor the specific cake I was look for as a cake-off entrant, though I had just seen it the previous weekend, I thought. But it was good weather and good running.

Friday, I ran without cake, working on the neighborhood course. I failed on the revised East Shibuya loop, but reviewing, it didn't really make sense anyway, so I've revised it again; it looks simple enough now. I was finally able to finish confirming knowledge of the Minami-Aoyama--Shibuya loop and was successful for clockwise at the revised Minami-Aoyama 3&4 loop, so that completion will simplify my next attempt at the other two. I did have a snack from a new counter at Isetan for Beillevaire, which also has a temporary shop at Roppongi Hills and a main shop in Moto-Azabu, so it might count as a neighborhood shop anyway, but I need to confirm both of those. As an Isetan exclusive, they have Mille-Feuille Fromage Pie Blood Orange, which was good but not really that interesting as either pastry or cheese (which is what the shop specializes in).

Saturday, I was busy, so I didn't run, but I did get to Gerbeaud for lunches  and cake sets for two. One cake was Wafuu Mont-Blanc. I'l say it was good, though that is based on two bites. It's a simple cake and not my style even among mont-blanc. It was pronounced delicious but not as good as Angelina's Mont-Blanc, which is more comparable than my preference of mont-blanc, so I'm reasonably confident about the rating. I had all but one bit of the Gerbeaud (Szelet), which as the name implies, is very layered, like a pasty, alternating in apricot jam (like a Sachertorte) and walnut. It was like a cross between a pastry and coffeecake, dry, but not in a bad way. It was a big change from my favorites but a nice change. This was definitely excellent, so Gerbeaud'll make the cut as a quite good Tokyo cake shop.

Blondir, Bourgeonner

Monday, I worked late, so I did some neighborhood course confirmation near Tokyo Midtown and stopped for a croissant from Sadaharu Aoki, since they don't have any fresh cake that I haven't had. It was excellent. It says that it was imported from France, but I expect in the form of butter and flour, not already baked, though they could import frozen dough. I completed confirming the Minami-Aoyama east loop and the Roppongi 7 west loop and did the Roppongi 7 east clockwise (all in the National Art Center clump of three loops).

Tuesday, I ran down to the Sadaharu Aoki at Shibuya Hikarie ShinQs and got their exclusive Tokyo-yaki Macaron Chocolat, which is a traditional Japanese cake made from batter and a mold with a macaron inside instead of bean paste. Also, the cake part was mochi-like (chewy) and green tea flavor. I microwaved it for 20 seconds as recommended, and it pretty much recreated the traditional texture despite having a macaron for filling. I'll never do that again. I'll call it good because it was as designed, but if I try another flavor, I'll have it cold, though I don't expect it would be better. Hopefully I'll find better things elsewhere. For the running, I did a one-way neighborhood course run to formally add the newly designed Shibuya east loop and well as confirm my knowledge of it, which completes the Shibuya Station Southeast clump of two loops.

Wednesday, I got cake at Isetan from Blondir, as a third cake from a seemingly quite good shop. This is supposedly pistachio ganache with strawberry soaked in red wine, but then there is Kirsch in there somewhere, maybe in the raisins on top, as they were definitely soaked in something. The feeling was more like a rum raisin cake, but then pistachio is the fruity nut. It was interesting and I approval of the design. Definitely wouldn't mind having it again, so excellent: Blondir will make the cut. Now on to the "C" quite good shops. Running was to Ginza, touring from Mitsukoshi and then (walking underground) to Viron and to 14 Juillet, none of which had anything unexpected.

L'Atelier du Sucre, Mont-blanc

Working my way through the A's of the potentially very good Tokyo cake shops, I did a run out to L'Atelier du Sucre in Edogawa-ku, on the extreme east side of Tokyo. I was prepared to take it slow but hoped for about 3 hours from start to reaching the shop, but actually I guess I didn't take that many pictures and the course is pretty straightforward, so I arrived in 2.5 hours. It was nicer run than I expected (the long straight section along a main road didn't seem so long).

The Mont-blanc looked attractive, so I went for that this time. It was definitely good, a vehicle for lots of sweet chestnut paste, though not that exceptional. Looks like this shop won't make the cut either. New a few such shops to have an excellent third cake, but there ware lots still to check. Next in distance, perhaps, will be Ces Journal, which is a couple kilometers nearer. Before that, I hope to sample Blondir via Isetan.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Saint Honoré Caramel over Origines Cacao's Tarte Caramel Chocolat

Started off trying to get a cake from JPH at Isetan for a cake-off, but they've changed the line-up mid-February, despite what I was told in January. Unfortunately, the change doesn't bring back one that I was looking for, but I'm not sure how stable the line-up is now, so I should probably check to see whether they slip anything else in in coming weeks before the text announced change (Tonka remains).

I stuck with my plan for the other cake in the cake-off, the Paris S'éveille's Saint Honoré Caramel. On the way, I dropped by the Tokyo Mid-Town JPH, just in case they had it (that was where they told me, after a long search through records, that it would be around until Feb. 28), they had switched the line-up there too. I also stopped at the chocolate shop Chapon and saw that that it had some café customers, so I guess they're okay. For the Paris S. cake, it's hard to get because they make it in the afternoon (when I asked once, they said could get it it 1 pm, but it seemed like even that was hurrying things), apparently. This time I was there just after 14:00, and there were a couple left, so they don't seem excited about making a lot of them. For convenience, I went to the opposite end of the shopping area there in Jiyuugaoka and got the Tarte Caramel Chocolat from Origines Cacao.

I was not thinking ahead of time that I wanted to compare two caramel cakes, but that's the way it turned out. It took a little bit to recognize the greatness, but I definitely got there with Saint Honoré Caramel by half way through. Usually I can judge each cake on its merits, but I think the fact that I had the saint honoré Caramel meant that it was harder to appreciate the Tarte Caramel Chocolat. It's definitely excellent, but I didn't feel that the chocolate was especially complementary to the caramel, whereas the small amount of nuts with the saint honoré were. I just don't need the former if I have the latter. However, the tart won its previous round, so it will get another chance in the third round. So the Saint Honoré Caramel gets its second cake-off win in a row and I'll probably get to its third round within the next month or so. As far as a follow-up to Paris S., I was one cake ahead (some weekend when I didn't have another distance shop in mind) already, and the three untested cakes  I saw today were all coffee-flavored, so I think I'll wait a while.

Maison D'ahni, Béret Pistache

Wednesday, I had pretty sore feet all morning and knew it was time to take a rest day, which I hadn't this week. And yet, I'm an addict, so by evening I wanted to run and didn't stop myself. I ran to Shibuya Hikarie ShinQs again, hoping from something from Sadaharu Aoki, but instead of 4 people in line, there were more than 14, so I gave up. Instead, I went for a third pastry from Le Pain de Joel Robuchon, this time choosing the Kouign Amann. It was the usual but excellent, so no complaints (I didn't eat it then, obviously, but after dinner, after which I was really full).

I worked on confirming my knowledge of the neighborhood course. I failed on the Minami-Aoyama--Shibuya loop but succeeded on the Minami-Aoyama south loop. However, it was a net loss in that, on the way back, I recognized a shop that should be added to the Minami-Aoyama 3&4 loop, though what kind of chocolate shop is empty of customers February 13? I won't be surprised to find it closed next time I go by, as it seems a hopeless case. Nevertheless, for now, I need to relearn that loop and I'll probably keep the new loop even if it does close.

Thursday, February 14, I followed by plan to rest. I had pain in my left thigh, which was new. Now sure how that happened or how to avoid it.

Friday, a tentatively good shop that I've only had one cake from visited Isetan, so I decided to give them a second chance early. I got the Béret Pistache, which is a pistache mousse dome with a milk chocolate center. It was reasonably good, but definitely not anything that excited me, so that will probably be my list trip there.

In good news, Blondir in the next visiting shop. They are only potentially quite good, but I've reviewing the quite good shops and they are one of the less conveniently located (I took care of the worse last weekend and plan to handle the next most distant one this weekend). Now if Ces Jours would just visit.

Actually, before eating my cake Friday, I did another neighborhood course run. This time I did the Minami-Aoyama--Nishi-Azabu and Nishi-Azabu northwest loops counterclockwise, but successfully, so that puts me over 40 km of loops confirmed both directions. I still want another 10 km before any major additions, though I might fill in the Shibuya east loop before that, and while I'm at it go for some more loops in the Shibuya area.