Frédéric Cassel: Tarte Fraise Mont

Did a visit to Frédéric Cassel for a new cake from a quite superb shop, this time Tarte Fraise Mont, which is the latest version of one of their current standard cake varieties. For a strawberry tart, the strawberry is pretty restrained, which actually I appreciate over a lot of raw fruit. There is some thick strawberry cream inside a hard biscuit and white chocolate with a hint of mint (also pretty restrained and not really enough to identify easily). It was excellent as usual.

Viron: Sully

Did a longer run today to Viron in Marunouchi in response to their cake-off win. Kept it slow (I'm not timing it), which is just as well since it was raining lightly. I got the Sully, which is much like their Fraise, but with pineapple, which is to say lots of thick cream and some alcohol. This is not a dramatic cake, but I didn't want it to be. Very nice and creamy. Foot is reasonably good, but did get pretty stiff walking back, which was how I injured it to begin with, though running a lot farther and then walking faster. I'll keep up my stretches and nighttime icing and bike tomorrow and Saturday.

Heritage: Miroir

Monday I cycled up to Heritage to get a fifth cake from a shop on the excellent list. I chose Miroir, which is chocolate around pistachio and raspberry (I think) and Bavarian cream, sort of a standard thing, really. Unfortunately, as is often with these types chocolate mousse with cream filling cakes, it didn't really add up to much. No specific complaint other than boring taste, which is sort of the greatest complaint, but for what it was, I don't think they did anything bad. Still, Heritage is look more quite good than excellent after five cakes, so it might not make it to six.

I ran for the first time for more than a week, just around the Yotsuya 3/4-choume area loop, for 17 minutes. It seemed okay (though that was true 3 weeks ago for longer distances) and, more significantly, didn't get me special trouble the next day, so I can try longer, and may need to if the choice is between cycling or running in rain (or no cake).

Actually, I forgot the Japanese phonetics of the name before I left Monday, so I cycled up there again Tuesday and then took the long way down to Mermaid Cafe near Daikanyama Stn. on my neighborhood course down south, which took more than 90 total, so I didn't try to run again too. I got the Kouign Amann as something different. It was like other cheap ones and seemed a little worse for wear for the late hour, but had a very butterscotch-flavored caramelized layer that was working for me, so I would say that it was good (but I forgot to take a picture).

Ryoura: Beauté

Trying to make this quick and catch up, though I'm still not great working with this computer (it's a little small and no mouse). Should have the new computer in a week.

Forgot to mentions (should anyone cake), that I visited Crossroad Bakery Friday and got a Croissant, which was definitely good. They had other things and definitely good is really above average for a croissant, so I'll try to get back there. I still have one more local shop that I want to get to and then I can finally use previous rating to focus on quality rather than novelty. I'll say the goodness was that it was pretty flaky, leaning on the cake-shop pastry type versus the more bread-like type of most bakeries, though it was still seemingly trying to strike a good balance, which I think it achieved.

For cake, I went to the recently promoted Ryoura and got Beauté, which apparently was introduced last November. I like this kind of cake with a hard coating and don't mind the whipped cream on top (I've cheated and turned the Ryoura insert 180 degrees so I can take a picture of the less damage side, but it traveled pretty well for a long trip hanging from my handlebars. (Still cycling, but I'm ready to start running, I think; I'll start small tomorrow, cycling first). This is earl grey mousse flavored with blackberry and raspberry gelatin and cassis cream. It's a very nice harmony, so I don't think I'm relying just on the style of cake and prejudice to a newly promoted shop when I say that it was excellent. Still, I'd like to get to some of the other shops that it currently looks like I might want to promote before getting back to Ryoura, but I look forward to more cakes from them in the near future.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Saint Honoré Caramel over Frédéric Cassel's Konatsu Cheesecake

Lots of cycling today, when I learned not to go to shops so early. Paris S'éveille's Saint Honoré Caramel wasn't available until 11:45, or so they told me at 10:15. I didn't stick around, but ordered ahead (and paid). I'm recognizable enough that I didn't even have to give my name when I came back around 12:30. In between, I went to Ginza to pick up Frédéric Cassel's Konatsu Cheesecake for a first-round cake-off, take it home, and then get back to Jiyuugaoka for my other cake. Then I still had to get home again, but felt less hurried. There was some caramel cream stuck to the paper divider, but the cake was pretty well packed and it traveled well even by bicycle.

The actual result of the cake-off was another technical decision. The cheesecake is pretty mild, so maybe bitter caramel isn't the best pairing, but I don't have a lot of mild cakes in my great cakes list. What I also don't have is another Saint Honoré. I'm not even sure that I have another bitter caramel, as I think the Aigre-Douce one is pretty sweet and other ones have been unavailable. Anyway, this my evaluation is really about what my priority is for having a great cake again, I'm going with this Saint Honoré, though I need to remember to eat it at a lower temperature. Let it warm up for 5 min seemed good for the cheesecake, but I think the shape of the cream makes that less needed and the custard inside the balls is better colder.

By my rule, I should be following up with another cake from Paris S'éveille, but since they don't have another (non-coffee-flavored) untried cake, and Frédéric Cassel is my top shop among those with untried cake, I'll probably get back to there first, as well as Viron, for last weekend's cake-off. As a third shop for the next weekday cakes, I'd like to try Heritage for a fifth cake, working my way through under-sampled excellent shops, though I have a couple other choices there. Before that, Ryoura is the shop I'm most serious about promoting and I should spread around my selections to stay interested, so I think that will be tomorrow's destination (at the actual shop, though Tokyo Midtown had some at the one I just had from there also today, though I thought tomorrow was their other day; I'll check again tomorrow to finish my week's daily survey of them.

Avranches Guesnay: Opera Figue Vin Rouge

Wednesday, got cake again at Isetan, this time from Avranches Guesnay as a fifth cake from an excellent shop. Did less cycling than other days, due to rain, but still went down to Midtown to check out the day's line up (I suppose I could just ask about the whole week all at once, but that's not very interesting and I perhaps wouldn't remember anyway). I went with Opera Figue Vin Rouge. Fig is good for dense cakes and I used to appreciate it more. This was definitely good and they did have a good harmony between the fig and red wine.

Thursday I went to Il Pleut sur la Seine and confirmed one good cake as available and got the Croissant aux Amandes, again, because I keep forgetting to rate it. This is the kind of almond croissant that seals in the filling by an outside layer. And this almond filling is deliciously moist and quite sugary. I'm going to say that it was excellent. I feel like being a sugar bomb is almost cheating, but it was not poorly done. My night photography, however, needs some work. Look at the phone manual is on the to do list.

En Vedette: Chocolat S

Since they seemed to be a quite good shop and were still at Isetan, I got a third cake from En Vedette, Chocolat S. Like yesterday, I tried to cycle hard without killing my knees, visiting Tokyo Midtown (to confirm which shops' cakes Dean & Deluca sells on Tuesdays) and then ending up going up and down Aoyama-dori, riding for 1 hour total. Next time I'll just wait for the light to change and ride where I want to.

The cake is chocolate cream above a chocolate cake base. It was excellent, at least if you appreciate good chocolate. This seems to be a Quite Good shop that might even be excellent, but under my current system it's practically impossible to get promoted out of Quite Good.

I should review the system, but I still haven't decided on a new computer yet and I'm running out of time with the loaner. Dell seems a likely choice, based on price.