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Some patissiers, when they design their cakes, show more good sense than others.
I don’t know how many times I found myself digging into a cake’s various layers encountering vastly different textures and ending up in a mess on my plate.

Le Cafe-Labo In Shizuoka City achieved the perfectly balanced confectionery when they came up with their new strawberry cake, Fraisee.
Between two thin layers of Genoise/French short cake a mixture of custard cream and butter cream provided enough solidity to enable the spoon or fork to smoothly cut through the whole cake and bring a satisfactory portion to the expecting palate.
The strawberries inside, although untreated, had been so well chosen that the spoon did not meet with any change as far as the texture was concerned.
The strawberry coulis, the dried strawberries, the blueberry and the icing sugar enhanced the whole cake with the exact amount of sweetness and elegance!

A cake to be savoured slowly!

LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

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We are in the middle of the fig season!
As Shizuoka is a mjor grower of this great fruit, one can expect all kinds of preparations!
Did you know that figs are great as vegetables starters, chilled, peeled and cut in thick slices with plenty of “goma tare/sesame sauce”? my new vegan friends, Miss V’s and Julie would love to try them!

So Le Cafe-Labo in Shizuoka City put this new creation, “Tarte aux Figues/Fig Tart” in its display cases yesterday. I did not hesitate as my private students have this very sweet tooth that helps me so much with my postings!

The basic pastry is “pate sablee” layered with a mixture of pate sablee and green pistachio paste (directly imported from France). Home-made fig jam has been spread over the pistachio pastry to preserve its identity. Quartered figs (with their skins!) were then assembled over the tart and subsequently lightly “brulees”.

The balance is perfect and the tart does make quite a bite to enjoy. Even a big eater like Foodhoe should feel satisfied!

LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

The Japan Blog List

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It’s pears season and Le Cafe-Labo in Shizuoka City has come up with another creation: Pear Mousse!
A cake of just the right size which should tempt Banu with some iced coffee!
A little small but more filling than you might expect.

For once I shall explain from bottom to top:
-A very thin sponge cake slice imbibed with pear liqueur
-Peaar Mousse with some pear liqueur poached pear to be discovered inside
-A thin layer of caramel sauce
-Small pear wedges poached in pear liqueur, Creme Chantilly, redcurrants, chocolate chip and mini mint leaves.

I must admit I ate it far too fast!
Taste Memory Girl and Rowena will scream at the sacrilege! LOL

LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

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LE CAFE LABO in Shizuoka City seems to be on a gastronomic rampage this Summer!
They keep coming up with some very original seasonal desserts which rae so welcome during this very hot year!

They called this new invention “Champagne Jelly”
It is a bit of misnomer as they used Cremant de Bourgogne from the Cote Chalonnaise in France. A bit extravagant when you know that Cremant, yen for yen (cent for cent), is better value than overpriced Champagne!

Ladies, rejoice! This is a very very healthy low-calorie dessert as the jelly is 100% natural “kanten” or Japanese agar/seaweed jelly!

They come with two different garnish: “kyoho Budo”, a very large expensive Japanese grape variety (usually seedless) as a shown in picture above and:

Lychee.

I sampled the latter before the next student came (most of the cakes and desserts postings are made in my private classroom!).
It has a very light but solid consistency. It melts deliciously inside the mouth with an elegant Cremant wine taste. It has a “short tail”, meaning you cannot wait for the next spoonful!
Definitely for ladies or calories-minding couples!

LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

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Shizuoka Prefecture happens to produce no less than 70% of the total green tea in Japan.
“Matcha/抹茶” is powdered tea of the highest quality made with leaves exclusively hand-picked.
“Zenzai/ぜんざい” is a traditional dessert usually consisting of hot shiruko (azuki beans soup), oranges, apricots, cherries, chestnuts and “shiratama/white balls”=balls of rice powder mixed with water (see below).

Now, this creation is obviously a French-style confectionery variation thought up by a Japanese chef.
The first green layer consists of matcha mousse and sweet boiled azuki beans.
It is then overlaid with “anko/sweetmeatmade with azuki beans” (see below).

A macha jelly cube and a honey-water jelly cube have been introduced beside the anko, before bee overlaid “shiratama”.
The top is decorated with matcha jelly cube, strawberry slice, orange wedge and more azuki beans.

A typical Japanese Summer dessert revised the Fench way!

Chocolat Fin
Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo Machi, 1-3-7 (2 minutes walk from Shin Shizuoka Center)
Tel. & fax: 054-2516321
Business hours: 10:00~20:00

Also: Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shin Shizuoka Center, Basement 1F
Tel.: 054-2215878

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The Summer has finally fallen on us with its intense heat and humidity.
This is a time when confectioners have a hard time concocting creations that will both keep fresh long enough and satisfy cake lovers’ craving for lighter fare.

Le Cafe-Labo, which seems to grasp the demand for such desserts has just come up with a delicious answer.

Its name is pretty staightforward: Passion Fruit Jelly.
But it is certainly more than that!
As seen on the pic above, it has been conceived into two distinctive layers, allowing you either to savour one at a time or to plunge your spoon to the bottom and come up with a tasty mix.
The top half is made with Mascarpone Cheese, a little flour, milk, sugar and jelly. Lighter than expected and just sweet enough.

The lower half is true passion fruit (they usually come from Okinawa Archipelago or Yakushima Island) processed into a reasonably solid jelly containing small wedges of Japanese Summer Oranges (the bigger slightly tangy variety). It is running all over the place like most industrial jellies. You can “dig” into it for your pleasure! And it is healthy!

LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

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Chez Lui, although part of a Tokyo-based chain does offer some creations of their own worth trying now and then.
This particular one is called “Conversation”
Why conversation?

Obviously it was prepared in two steps:
-Cherries were mixed with marzipan inside a thin tart and baked and coled down.
-It was then topped with patterned meringue and baked again.
The end result offers good balance. It is a fulfilling cake in spite of its limited size.
Great with afternoon coffee or tea!

CHEZ LUI
Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Koyamachi, 6-7, Parco, B1
Tel.: 054-9038600
Business hours: 10:00~20:00

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LE CAFE-LABO in Shizuoka City, always showing a lot of research has come up with an interesting version of that Japanese favourite: Coffee Jelly!

It is a combination of unsweetened coffee jelly and sweet coffee mousse.
It has been devised so that you can mix both flavours in different amounts with every scoop of the spoon.
It was obviously done in two steps: jelly first until solidified before the mousse was poured in. A bit tricky as the square cup had to be kept secure on an inclined rack.
I wonder what Taste Memory Girl would think of that!

The top Chantilly cream (sweet) could be “kept apart” and mixed in slowly, too.
Extremely refreshing and puzzling in Summer!

LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

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Savarin must be one of the most celebrated cakes all over the world.
Named after the unavoidable Brillat-Savarin, the great gastronome, it has appeared under many guises over the years, but the basics are still the same.

Le-Cafe labo has come with a very Japanese interpretation:
Instead of a single tier, it is built upon two tiers spong cake/gateau de Savoie intesped with custard. Only the bottom tier has been soaked not with usual rum, but with hydromel.
The offering is certainly lighter than the ones back home in France, but nonetheless delicious.
Moreover the orange toppings, one a confit slice, the other one a brulee wedge, is a great find, ensuring a slow savouring of the cake from top to bottom.

Once again, a cake great with coffee (alright, tea is fine, too! LOL)
LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

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Here is a cake that will definitely tempt Memory Taste Girl’s appetite!
It has the added particularity that its name features my birthplace!
Chez Lui is a large “chain company” based in Tokyo and represented at Parco in Shizuoka City.
Their cakes have the merit to be made on site and some do deserve a mention!

Its name?
Bourgogne Noir Dijon.
Definitely a Japanese way of naming a cake!
It contains a lot of Cassis Liqueur which explains the mention of the Bourgogne Region and its capital, Dijon ( a bit of an oxymoron, I’m afraid). It just happens that I was born in the “City of the Dukes”!
It is mainly made up of Cassis Mousse coated with Cassis Coulis and decorated outside with white chocolate. It is furthermore topped with blueberry, blackberry, mint and chocolate.

The inside is pretty complex with a double base of almond biscuit and chocolate short cake.
A small chocolate short cake disc about two thirds of the cake in diameter has been “inserted” inside the mousse with some Creme Chantilly.

Quite sophisticated and delicious. To appreciate with coffee or liqueur!

CHEZ LUI
Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Koyamachi, 6-7, Parco, B1
Tel.: 054-9038600
Business hours: 10:00~20:00

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Theo Chocolatier is a major chocolate and cake company based in Tokyo. They have a couple of very upscale shops in Shizuoka City and for all their businesslike image, they do offer a couple of confections worth noticing.

One is Vostok, a cake christened (sic) after the USSR satellite (because of the shape or the colour?)

Now, this the kind of cakes more for guys like Foodhoe and Gaijin Tonic, although some hungry ladies will appreciate it (mind your figure!).

Made with lots of beaten egg whites/meringue and almond powder, it is very soft under the teeth but very fulfilling with hints of orange liqueur.
Coated with plenty of almond slices and icing sugar, it provides a crisp finish to the soft texture of the cake.
Perfect with a strong coffee!

Theo Chocolatier
Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 1-7-13
Tel.: 054-2754700
Business hours: 10:00~20:00

Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Koyamachi, 6-7, Shizuoka Parco B1F
Tel.: 054-9038610
Business Hours: 10:00~20:00

Homepage (Japanese)

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The name of this particular cake is “LEGERE” which means “light” (as opposite to “heavy”), feminine form in French. And it certainly looks vey feminine to this old macho geezer. If you want to know why, you might better ask Taste Memory Girl, Rowena and Julie!

The core is cream cheese perfumed with citronelle and contains new orange jelly.
It is coated with cream cheese blanc-mange lacquered with New Summer Orange (Shizuoka orange variety) coulis, and topped with pieces of sable biscuits.

It just melts inside your mouth with a complex flavour mixture. Very popular with ladies (I’m not being heavy on the subject! LOL)!
Alright, the next cake will be for the men!

LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

The Japan Blog List

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“Common desserts” can become a real disappointment when bought over the counter of mass-producing cake shops.
A good “Creme Brulee” ought to be easy to find, even in this very precise-minded country. Actually, to the eternal chagrin of its officionados, it is not.
Therefore, it feels like a rare boon to discover the real product made along simple lines and with good ingredients.
Le Cafe-Labo’s Creme Brulee is made with eggs, fresh cream, sugar, vanilla beans (you know, these tiny black spots!) and milk, … and nothing else! No jelly, no artificial emulsifier, and what else.

And as you lovingly break its caramel coating it does not sink into oblivion. The pudding under, and not some inconsistent “cream”, reveals itself both soft and solid and can be scooped a little bit at a time (that is for gentle ladies, as I tend to gobble it down!) to be truly enjoyed as the dessert everyone has a right to expect!
As for the taste? I did not mention the taste? … Perfect!

LE CAFE-LABO
424-0886 Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Kusanagi, 46
Tel.: 054-3441661
Also available at Isetan Dept. Store, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Shichiken-Cho

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Rouge Et Piquant is definitely an off-the-beaten-tracks cafe/cake shop.
The opening hours (14:00~24:00) are definitely not the norm in Japan. Ms. Kanae Tunogai’s confectionery concept shows some courage and determination in a very stereotyped country in spite of all its creators. The accent is not on the sweetness, but on the true taste of the ingredients. So do not expect mountains of sugar or sweeteners. Her cakes are definitely for an adult audience in all the senses of the expression!

The other day I decided to order an old favourite: Framboise (Raspberry) Cake with Ice-cream.

The Framboise Cake is Framboise Mousse laid on a Genoise (Short Cake) base with Chocolate and Almonds Pranile to give it a steady solid core. The whole topped with Raspberries and a cut fof strawberry. Very precise and balanced work, and very feminine in its concept, although I’m sure macho males will fight for it!

The “ice-cream” is simply extravagant: Framboise/Raspberry Sherbet, Fraise/Strawberry Ice-cream and Banane/Banana Ice-cream balls with a syrup-coated Cherry Apple Slices artfully adorning a sublime Feuillantine Tartelette. Naturally all ice-creams and sherbet are home-made!

Memory Taste Girl and Rowena are going to kill me (into a sugar-coated coffin?)!

Rouge Et Piquant
420-0032 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Ryogae-Cho, 2-4-29, Aspis Bldg. 2F
Tel.: 054-221-4538
Business Hours: 14:00~2:00
Closed on Mondays