This post was supposed to be posted earlier this week, but I was in Hida Takayama 飛騨高山 in Gifu 岐阜 for my first Ultra-Marathon (100km).
Just to tell you a bit if you plan to go to Japan, Hida Takama is a very beautiful, charming and friendly area, in the North of Nagoya and around 4-5hrs from Tokyo. It is also well-known for Historic Village of Shirakawa-go, one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
On that weekend, I escaped the rainy days of Tokyo. The day of my race was sunny and hot. I managed to finish it in 8h58 and ranked 15th among 1,640 runners. The course was very difficult, 2707m of cumulative elevation difference and the temperature peaked at 28 degrees. For a first time, I was very proud and happy with my result. Then, I enjoyed the rest of the day in a very nice Rotenburo (an outdoor hot spring) surrounded by mountains. The place for that outdoor public bath in the middle of the nature was meticulously planned by my lovely wife who took care of the whole logistics and who came to cheer me.
Ok now back to the cake :)
My biggest fan, Sayaka asked me to do something chocolaty. My favorite type of cake ! It was to celebrate two birthday at the same time, so lots of pressure on me. I know that her daddy likes it intense, her younger brother likes milk chocolate, and Sayaka and her mum like fruits and dark chocolate. So I came up with a cake with a Praline and chocolate base, a raspberry and dark chocolate mousse, an orange and milk chocolate cream and some dark chocolate chunks. The final result was a very intense chocolaty desert, balanced with a bit of sourness brought by the raspberries and the orange I have added. Finally, to add some crunchy/crispiness I have added some caramelized hazelnuts in a thin layer of milk chocolate ganache !
