Patisserie Etienne エチエンヌ: The Flying Pig

I have never forgotten Patisserie Etienne since I had a first taste of their cakes several years ago. One reason is because the logo is a cute pig with flying wings and a curly tail. 

Second reason, the cakes are all creatively presented and easily catches your attention to the glass showcase miles away. 

 

Baked Cheesecake with a Mountain of Crumbly Sables! (France and Japan Cream Cheese for the Baked Cheese Layer) 

プルミエール　PREMIER (Raspberry Chocolate Mousse)

Third, some people prefer simple cakes. But as a greedy person, I like my cakes to have multiple components and textures (mousse+ganache+cream+crunchy element X) and Etiennes cakes fit the bill again. 

VOICE (Chocolate Tart filled with Banana and Caramel)

 

White Piano (Mascarpone Mousse & Berry Compote)

Fourth, while it is run by a pair of talented husband and wife pastry chefs, it is supported by a strong team of chefs and staffs who are given recognition on their official website. The owner chef, Fujimoto Toshimi has represented Japan at the 10th Coupe Du Monde de la Patisserie and clinched the overall top award, beating other strong competitor countries like France and Italy. It was the first time since 1991 that Japan clinched overall champion and after 2007, Japan has not managed to climb back to the No. position. France was No.1 in 2013. 

This Libertale is the winning pastry  in 2007. Though I've had similar ones before, this multi-texture chocolate caramel creation could be a breakthrough 7 years ago. 

While caramelized nuts adorned the sides of the cake, the interior is like a complicated maze even though it did not look colorful.

Working from the top, there is intense caramel ganache, two types of chocolate mousse (outer-milk, inner-dark), banana compote, moist banana financier and a chocolate sponge mixed with crushed caramelized nuts. 

 

Does this look like a pig's buttocks? Anyway, this signature cream puff is really called "Pig's Butt" 

While its dark brown skin looked promisingly crunchy, the choux puff turned out to be rather chewy and thicker than average. Fortunately, it was baked thoroughly and filled with exceedingly amount of vanilla custard cream. Indeed a truly voluptuous pig ass! 

Anka 

Decorated with a red chocolate macaron, this is a five component cake with chocolate ganache and gritty sable base. The earl grey flavour is so discernible in both the white chocolate mousse and brown sponge layer that I thought I was drinking royal milk tea. 

Saint Honore 

Having a penchant for Saint Honore, I got this immediately even though it wasn't my preferred praline-caramel filling. Still, the cherry buttercream and pistachio-filled cream puffs were sufficient to nurse my cravings. Worthy of mention is the thin layer of biscuit at the base that cushions the entire structure and added another dimension to this typical choux puff creation.

 

ジョリフィーユ

Pistachio mousse, strawberry compote, strawberry mousse, sponge. Perhaps other cakes were too outstanding and thus this paled in comparison. A safe and standard creation. 

オンクチューズマンゴだぷりこ

The white chocolate mousse with mango apricot jam and sponge cake provided a sweet tart finish. But what swept me off my feet wasn't the orange oblong-shaped macaron but the unusual florentine -lookalike at the base that tasted like granola crunch bar. 

Patisserie Etienne puts different ingredients together into an unanticipated manner yet never seem to go wrong with each experiment. It also come up with seasonal creations more frequently than other patisseries so I'm pretty sure one will never be bored with the items here! 

Patisserie Etienne エチエンヌ

Kanagawa Prefecture Kawasaki City, Asao-ku, Manpukuji 6-7-13 マスターアリーナ新百合ヶ丘1F

10am-7pm (Closed on Mon)

http://etienne.jp