Resom Ocean Resort in Anmyeon-do

It's been awhile since I've posted but it hasn't slowed traffic to my site as my uploads of the Boys Over Flowers piano sheets seem to be high on the Google Search Engine! : ) I haven't been sight seeing much in Seoul except for an overnight trip to Anmyeon-do in Chungcheongnam-do last month. We stayed at the Resom Ocean Resort which was the equivalent of a 4 Star hotel. It has a very inviting and large lobby and several buildings of rooms.

We had a 2 bedroom apartment with a open kitchen and 1 bathroom that overlooked the sea. It was clean and well equipped. Nice flat screen tv in the living room then an old CRT tv in the bedroom. Bit of a contrast if you ask me. It kinda felt like they decided to just do with what budget they could at that moment.

The bedroom with the tv had a queen sized bed and the other room was the Korean style room where you put the bedding on the floor. The resort has an outdoor sauna but it was a bit cold to try it out. They call it an Aqua Park but don't expect anything like Sea World or Wet n Wild. It's actually like a Japanese Onsen where there are several pools with sulphur water pumped into them from the ground with healing properties for the skin.

There are several restaurants to choose from and one that serves very good sashimi. Expect to pay a lot for it though. There was a convenience store, bakery and a beautiful wooden deck where you can also dine when the weather is warmer.

Nearby there is a famous forest, the Anmyeon-do Recreational Forest with majestic trees that are quite beautiful to walk among. It is peaceful and a wonderful way to spend a few hours away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

I have pictures and will post them when I am back home (I'm on holiday now). The drive out there from Seoul is about 3 hours.


Useful links:

www.anmyonhuyang.go.kr

Chungcheongnam-do
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?areaCode=34

Best Ever Bolognese Sauce

Every time I make this Bolognese Sauce I always get a request for the recipe. I owe this recipe to a good friend of mine Jess as she has been waiting over a year for me to get my butt into gear to send this or post it on my blog. I have been meaning to but have been waiting to put a pic up with it but everytime I forget to take a pic after I've cooked it.

Recently another friend has requested for it and I thought, "Right! Let's get it done". I first tasted the most delicious meat sauce that a friend of mine in Sydney used in his lasagne. I can't remember where he got the recipe from but he was kind enough to write it down for me. Although the recipe only calls for cooking it for 45 minutes, I tend to cook it for a minimum of 2 on a low simmer. I find that this really allows the tomatoes to infuse into the sauce and release it's wonderful rich deep red colour.

I would cut out any excess fat from the pancetta (or bacon if you can't find pancetta) as the sauce yields a lot of oil from the butter, oil and whatever fat is in your mince. I also (when I have them) substitute 2 tomaotes for 1 can of diced tomato. I find it gives a fresher flavour.

Ingredients:

60g Butter
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Celery stick, finely chopped
1 Carrot, diced
50g Pancetta diced
500g Minced beef
1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Oregano (can substitute with dried)
1 Cup Red Wine
2 Cups Beef stock
2 TBSP tomato paste
2 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes


Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until it starts to soften. Add the garlic, celery and carrot, and cook stirring over low heat for 5 minutes.

Increase the heat to high, add the pancetta, beef and oregano, and cook for 45 minutes or until browned. Use a fork to break up any lumps. Pour in the wine, reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until it is absorbed. Add the stock, tomato paste and tinned tomatoes, and season well. Cover with a lid and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce from catching on the bottom of the saucepan. Uncover and simmer for another hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve on al dente pasta and sprinkle with grated parmesan.

Enjoy!

Stevie Wonder in Seoul

Stevie Wonder is coming to town! He will be performing on August 10 at the Gymnastics Hall at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul. Trying to get a ticket? Good luck! The tickets sold our within 3 hours but if you are lucky and you know someone who knows someone...

The Spice Table - Restaurant Review

I know I have been woefully neglect in posting. I have had posts in my head but have not had the time to actually get it up! I have been on holiday and I have started another blog dedicated to my baking journey (www.buttersugarcream.com) which has taken a lot of my time to getting together.

As a first post back from a break, I would like to do a restaurant review of The Spice Table at Itaewon. This place opened in the Spring (if i'm not mistaken) and claims to do Vietnamese, Malaysian and Thai cuisine. After talking about going there, my OH and I finally did one Sunday afternoon.

Located opposite Los Amigos, you head up a tall set of stairs next to the Ramen shop. The interior is gently lit with warm wall lights and you are greeted by a tall wall of wine bottles as you enter. The floor has that unfinished industrial feel complimented with the heavy duty iron chandelier.

The menu has a reasonable selection of entrees and mains. I love my desserts and the fact that I can't remember their dessert selection says something. I ordered the Vietnamese Beef Noddles in an Oxtail Broth and my OH went for the Red Curry Fried Rice.

I must say I really enjoyed my Vietnamese Pho. The soup was cloudy with flavour and really made you want to keep slurping it down. The noodles were just the right texture and firmness. Soft but not to the point of being sloppy everywhere. They could have done with some Thai mint which would have made the dish perfect. It was the best pho I have had so far in Korea.

The Red Curry Fried Rice was full of flavour though a little dry. Could have used with a bit curry. We went back there with some friends a few weeks later and what was funny was when I called to make the reservation, they reconfirmed with me that I was calling "The Spice Table which is an Asian Fusion restaurant". I figured that they had some customers who made reservations but were surprised to find themselves not at The Spice (the new fine dining restaurant by Edward Kwon, also in Itaewon) but at The Spice Table.

Our friends agreed that the food was reasonably good and wouldn't mind going back there. The next time I go, I must ask them which was the Malaysian dish as I could not pick one dish out that was 'Malaysian'.

The Spice Table
02 796 0509

Cupcake Clutch - SATC The Movie

I'm a big fan of cupcakes and have been experimenting a lot with flavours and decorating. I'm also a big fan of Sex and The City. So when I saw the Judith Leiber clutch from the first movie carried by Charlotte's daughter, Lily being reviewed by The PurseBlog, I was like "Ooooooh! I WANT!". But that will burn such a hole in my pocket that I don't think I'd quite recover from it. US$5,000!!!



Sigh, it's going to be one of those things I am just going to have to admire from afar.

Eclipse Trailer - Better quality

The trailer that I linked to the last post is really not very clear at all. I found another better trailer from an official site here. I am quite excited about the new movie. I'm wondering whether I should read Eclipse again to just jog my memory or surprise myself by just watching the movie and letting it all come back to me. Hmmmmm...

I'm planning a Twilight party with some friends at my place 'cos I needed some friends to play the Twilight AND New Moon board games I got for Christmas! It's not going to go overboard in Twilight paraphernalia but we're going to keep some key things like the apples, having the movie play in the background, wine, red drinks... basically a Red theme whenever possible. I don't think I will be printing out life sized posters or drink bottle labels (as I saw one party hostess did), that's just too much effort for a small gathering. All in all it will be a chance to drool over Robert Pattinson in numbers rather than by myself. And... who cares if he doesn't look quite as good in real life?

This is a fanart sketched by akalilith - pretty amazing huh?

Total 'Eclipse' of my Heart

Ok, so it's a cheesy title for this post but there's nothing cheesy about Eclipse - the 3rd instalment of the Twilight Saga. Twilight got me hooked on the saga, New Moon was just laying the groundwork for Eclipse which prepared the pedestal for Breaking Dawn. So this movie HAS to be better than New Moon. Catch the HD trailer here at: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summit/thetwilightsagaeclipse/

...or watch it right now:

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I am a big fan of banana cake. Whether it comes in a loaf form or round cake form, I'm happy to sample some. The ones I like the most are the super moist ones. The ones that still spring to the touch. I have tried some of the banana loafs in Australia but I find that their banana 'bread' is really like Italian bread. It is dense and often dry.

To satisfy my craving for a good banana cake I decided to make my own as it is hard to find any here. The most common cakes at cafe's or bakeries are cheese cakes or cream cakes. I went through a few recipes and have hit the jackpot with one and my friends have been asking for the recipe, so here it is.

SERVES 16 Using a 9" Cake tin

You will need:

2 cups of bananas (use bananas that are really ripe ie. when the skin is all black and just sort of falling apart... they're perfect)
2 tsp Lemon juice
3 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Butter (room temp)
2 1/8 cups Sugar
3 large Eggs
2 tsp Vailla Extract
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk

Frosting

I use this fantabulous Cream Cheese Frosting that I have posted about when I made Red Velvet Cupcakes. Check out the recipe here.

The Method

1. Preheat the oven to 135C or 275F. The temperature is low for baking a cake but don't touch that dial. It works, trust me.
2. Grease and flour a 9" cake tin.
3. Mash the bananas with a form and mix in the lemon juice. Let this sit for awhile.
4. Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
5. In your large mixing bowl, cream the butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. The mixture should turn very pale, the fluffier the butter and sugar mixture the lighter and higher the cake will rise.
6. Beat in the eggs one at a time on the low setting of your blender so you don't curdle the mixture. This will help emulsify the mixture and hold moisture which will also act as leavening for your cake. Scrape down the sides of the bowl at the end and add the vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternatively with the buttermilk. I do this in 3 portions each. Don't try to rush this. You want to make sure the mixture is well combined. If you live in Seoul like I do and can't find Buttermilk. It's easy to make your own. For each cup of buttermilk that is needed, add 1 tbsp of lemon to a cup of milk and let it sit for 10 mins. It may curdle a little at the top so just stir the milk before you add it to your cooking.
8. Finally add in the banana's and quickly use a wooden spoon to just stir it in. Don't overmix.
9. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and pop it into the preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 mins. I would check your cake att the 55mins mark as ovens differ. Best would be to get a oven termometer to measure the temp properly. To check insert a toothpick or a wooden skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean then your cake is done.
11. Remove it from the oven and put it in the freezer immediately for 45mins. Don't worry, your cake won't freeze but it will cool down very quickly which I think maybe how it stays very moist.

Check out the above link for a yummy cream cheese frosting recipe. As a final touch, you can add walnuts on the top of the frosting.

Best Ever Cornflake Cookies Recipe

I am not exagerating when I say "Best Ever" here. Ok so maybe it would also make it easier to turn up on a Google search - heh, heh! A few friends of mine requested this recipe. I decided to make Cornflakes Cookies this year for Chinese New Year as I can't get them here in Seoul. So along with Cornflake Cookies I also made Fah Sang Peng (Peanut Cookies) and some Chocolate Chip Cookies thrown in just because. Believe me, if they were readily available I would not make them but I am glad I did!

This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found online and an Amy Beh recipe. It yields just over 100 cookies about an inch+ in diameter.

Ingredients

125gms softened butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 large egg
1 cup self raising flour (or I use 1 cup of cakeflour + 2 tbsp if you can get it)
1/2 tsp grated lemon/orange rind
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
3 cups lightly crushed cornflakes
* optional 1 tsp baking powder if you are using cake flour

Method

Line a baking/cookie tray. Have 2 so you can work on the 2nd one while the first 1 is in the oven.

First cream the butter and sugar together until white and well combined. Then add the egg and beat, scrape down sides of the bowl and add the vanilla essence and lemon/orange rind. Mix well then fold in the flour. For the cornflakes, I put them in a zip lock bag and crush with a rolling pin. Be careful not to overdo it. You want the pieces big enough to coat the cookie and give it a bit of crunch. Pour some cornflakes into a plate of shallow bowl.

When the cookie mixture is done, use 2 teaspoons; 1 to scoop the batter and the other to push it down onto the cornflakes. To get a bite size shape, scoop a mixture about half the teaspoon in size. Remember, it will expand a bit in the oven because of the baking powder. The mixture is pretty sticky so trying to roll it in the cornflakes with your fingers is pretty messy and the results less than pretty. So, I suggest you first use your fingers to sprinkle the cornflakes over the little ball then once it has some cornflakes on it it's a lot easier to 'handle'. Turn it around a bit till nicely coated then continue with the rest.

Here they are before they go into the oven

It will take some time as the coating process is a little tedious. Have a good radio channel on or have the tv in the background, it makes it more enjoyable. : ) Place the cookies about 3-4cm apart to give it room to spread. I also made these cookies with mini cupcake holders and it was cuter, when you allow it to spread by itself, the cookie is no longer coated on all surfaces with the cornflakes. Bake in a preheated oven of 150 degree Celcius for 12-15 minutes. Some recipes say 18-20 minutes but I found that mine were done by about 15 so test a small batch first to be sure.

In the mini cupcake holders. I baked a large batch and put them into containers as gifts for Chinese New Year.

Cool on wire racks then put in air tight containers, or if you are like me, eat as you bake! These are so yummy and crunchy I can just keep eating them. They are great as gifts, or for parties, or just for your own personal enjoyment. The best thing about it is the hint of lemon. Yum!

Getting LASEK in Seoul

I have thought long and hard about getting my eyes fixed and by this I mean LASIK or LASEK. I figured the technology is pretty advanced now with high success rates and the price having been reduced by half from 5 years ago. Korea is well known for their high tech and high quality of health care so this is a good time as any to get my eyes checked out.

There are quite a few eye care centres that I found out about but the one that I finally picked was Dream Eye Centre. I read someone's review on their blog (of which I have now forgotten the url) and they had a good experience. You can find some testimonials on their website if you pick the Korean version of the site. You won't miss it, it's in the centre and you can sort of see the subject titles of each testimonial.

First thing to note, before you have your first appointment, you have to remove your contacts for 1 week for them to do your eye examination. A good thing I called in advance! Wearing glasses only for a week was alright but I missed wearing contacts when going out.

The clinic I went to was the one in Myeongdong, they have another one in Gangnam. It's on the same street as Migliore. If you walk down hill from Migliore for about 50m, you will see Banila & Co on the corner. Dream Eye Centre is on the right. You take the lift to the 4th floor and that's their reception.

The receiption is comfortable with a row of sofa's facing the reception desk and some coffee tables with chairs around it for when they sit down with you to get your history. On one side of the reception area, they have conveniently provided 3 computers to keep you entertained in case there is long to wait. The deco is simple and uncluttered with cool tones to soothe the eyes.

I was greeted first by the ladies behind the desk who told me to wait for a few minutes. Shortly, I was 'interviewed' by one of the assistants in a lab coat who took down my history and 10 minutes later, I was taken upstairs for a series of tests which was done with no less than a dozen machines. They were very thorough. The eye exams included a check on my vision, astigmatisicm, glaucoma, thickness and shape of my cornea.

This was really the most thorough of eye examinations I have ever had. Throughout, the assistant (her name was Jiye) was courteous and warm. Her English was good and we could have short conversations in between tests. In the final part of the exams, the doctor (Dr Ha in my case) did a final check on the health of my eyes by shining a super intense light into your eyes that made your eyes water!

For me, the conclusion was that my cornea was too thin for LASIK. If I wanted to correct my vision, I had to go for LASEK which had a slower recovery period but is safer. After that, Jiye sat down with me again in a small room and showed me flash videos of the laser they use and how good it is etc etc... The pricing is as they said over the phone which is from KRW1.7mil - 2mil.

Oh, I better mention this... for one of the tests which involves them sticking a pen onto your eye to test your cornea's thickness. In order to prevent you from screaming in pain and kicking them in the 'nads, they give you some anaesthetic eyedrops. You won't feel a thing but the downside of these eyedrops is that for the next few hours, light will hurt your eyes (so bring sunglasses!) and your vision will go wonky (things will seem blurry but my vision for things up close was improved when I took off my glasses - something to do with the eye not being able to focus well).

After a brief discussion later with my OH, we decided to get it done and I returned the next day for the procedure. The atmosphere was all very calm and 'let's-not-get-the-patient-excited'. They even had elevator music piped into the room where the nurse was washing my eyes and face. So if you are girl, don't bother putting on any makeup. After getting preped, I was taken in to the OT which had a big postcard window where your companion can see you while watching from the sofas outside the room. They even have a monitor that is pointed and zoomed directly at your eye so they can see exactly what is being done.

Being the chicken that I am, I averted my eyes when I walked past 'cos I didn't want to freak myself out seeing someone else's procedure. When I laid down on the bed, the nurse was kind enough to offer me a pillow in the shape of Winnie the Pooh's face to hug (or clutch in my case) before they put a blanket over me. Then the nurse asked me if I was nervous and I said, "Yes" and she offered me some kind words which I no longer remember as the machine was being moved over me. She put a hand on mine which was comforting.

The entire procedure was over pretty quickly. They weren't kidding when they said 5 minutes per eye. I won't ruin the experience for you by recounting it in detail. All I will say is it is really painless. I was tense but not too nervous and if I had been more relaxed rather than thinking that any moment my eyes will be in some serious pain especially when they were doing the procedure I would have probably enjoyed the experience more.

Sorry I didn't take any photos as you can imagine that was the last thing on my mind. : ) Oh and when I got home, I opened my packet of medicine I discovered a small card. It was from the nurse (who spent probably only 20 minutes with me) with some sweet words of congratulations and wishing me luck as I enjoyed my new vision. I thought that was really sweet and thoughful. Sometimes it is these small touches that makes a difference.

I would recommend Dream Eye Center for anyone wishing to get their vision corrected through LASIK or LASEK. One of the best points about this experience is also that their initial eye examination to see if you are a candidate for the procedure is FREE. Their follow up visits and medication including eye drops are also included in the price.

Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy - In Seoul!

Some time ago, I subsribed to a mailing list for events happening in Seoul. I get it weekly but seldom read the email as it doesn't have an extensive list of events, just whoever knew enough to upload their event.

3 weeks ago, I thought it was worth checking out what was happening in Seoul and nearly fell off my chair in excitement to see that Arnie Roth was heading to Seoul to play music from Final Fantasy. Now if my readers have read any of my older posts, you will know that I am a fan of Final Fantasy, VII in particular. Even my avatar is of Tifa from FFVII.

2 years ago I flew to Sydney to watch Play! conducted by Arnie Roth who played a selection of game music (eg. Mario Bros theme, Sonic the Hedgehog, FFVII and many many more) at the Sydney Opera House. So if they are in town, you can be SURE I am going to be there!

First of all, I sent an email blast to my fellow fans who don't live in Seoul so they could writhe in envy. ; ) I wasted no time after that and got the tickets. The cheapest tickets weren't available (yes I can be cheap, I am there to listen to the music not watch a play so location isn't as important) so I got the 2nd cheapest which was KRW55,000. I dragged my OH along because this time, I wasn't going to watch it alone. Hey, I have to gush to somebody as they are playing 'To Zanarkand' right?

Concert poster

The Seoul Arts Centre was the host of this momentus event. Upon reflection I will say that the acoustics at their concert hall was not comparable to that of the Sydney Opera House. Still, it did little to dampen my enjoyment.

The orchestra

The bonus was that the MAN himself, Nobuo Uematsu - legendary composer of FF music; was present. Never thought I'd see him in the flesh, this would take a distant second place to meeting Ayrton Senna in the flesh. He was dressed in a black Yukata by the looks of it, white socks, slippers and a red bandana covering his head. These artists types...

Nobuo Uematsu Greeting the crowd

So, the music... excellent of course. They played a good selection in two parts. Some of the songs I am not familiar with and these were mainl from FF XI and FF VIII. They had some guest singers for the Opera 'Maria and Draco' from FF VI and Lisa Young for 'Suteki da ne'. Her voice was very high like the original Japanese singer but it seemed a bit lost on the soft and high notes. It could have been the audio system though.

The Choir

Some of the songs that stood out for me were Liberti Fatali, Victory Theme (all of the 9 notes), To Zanarkand, Swing de Chocobo (loved the drums/timpani's on that one), Eyes on Me, Suteki da ne, Aerith's Theme (it would have been incomplete without this), J-E-N-O-V-A and for the encore One Winged Angel which was even better than the real thing!

The best part was when Arnie Roth invited Nobuo to the stage to accept the applause and he voluntered to join the choir for One Winged Angel. The video they had in the background for this OWA was heaps better than the one they used at Play! as this time they used a lot of footage from FF VII: Advent Children.

If it comes your way, catch it! It's a chance of a lifetime.

Korean Handmade Jewelry ala Dami

One thing I discovered in Namdaemun is the plethora of little handmade accessories and jewelry artists/vendors that you can find in Korea. Sure, the ones in the Trillion building for example are making jewelry for wholesale and you can find everything from cheap trinkety type accessories to the more sophisticated feathers and pearl accessories.

There are also quite a few independent handmade jewelry makers around. By far though, my favourite is Dami on Karosogil (see my earlier post on this cool shopping street in Sinsa-dong). Their jewelry is delicate and easy to match. Their style makes it easy to layer several necklaces together and they also sell sets which are always more tempting than just buying one necklace. I think that's the point!

Their earrings tend to be the dangly type and are exquisite. They have a range of hair accessories as well but I never really pay any attention to them as I am often too distracted by their necklaces and earrings.

You will find Dami at the top end of Karosogil opposite Cafe Nescafe and right next to Farmers which specialises in Hair Accessories.

Dami
542-6 Sinsadong, Gangnam-gu
T. 02 51 8620
Opening hours: 1100 - 2200
Closed on Sundays

Happy Malling!

Every once in awhile, you come across something that just cracks you up. This happened to me recently while waiting for the lift to take me to the CGV level at I-Park Mall for my rendezvous with a certain Vampire called Edward Cullen.


You've got to give them credit for coming up with new words.

National News Headline Could Use with Some Editing

Here's what one of the headlines in the Joong Ang Daily English news website reads today: Korea grants refugee status to gay

I think they need to get the editing checked out. The word "gay" is typically used as an adjective and sometimes a noun but I think the accurate way to write it is to add the word "a" before the word "gay and then "person" behind it.

Mondays are Slow Days

It's Monday and I wake up to a white wonderland. There are huge puffy snowflakes flying across my window and it's so pretty! I was just complaining to a friend the other day that snow should be fat and fluffy not the kind of wet drizzly bits that we had a few days ago. So I get my wish. This will also mean that the streets are probably clogged with traffic that can't move faster than 20km an hour because the city council is not quite as efficient with putting grit on the ground.

If you are living in the hills like in Sambuk-dong, Itaewon-dong or Hannam-dong then you are probably pretty screwed if you plan to go anywhere quickly with a car. Expect to find detours or more accessible roads to navigate down or up. Hopefully by the time you leave your house, some of the neighbours have cleared their driveways and many other cars have passed through the main roads which will clear the path to a muddy slush which will be extremely helpful.

Meanwhile, it's 10.38am and I am still in my robe watching the snow fall and looking forward to being able to build my snowman. Oh and if you were planning to go to Lotte or Shinsegae Department Store today, you won't be able to. Traffic is one thing but they are closed on Mondays. I found out the hard way.

Cool Tip on Making Your Own Bias Tape

Although my blog has a lot of food related posts to it, I also do a bit of sewing which I don't really post about. I have done quite a few projects of late - purely for personal pleasure and sense of achievement really than anything else. Also, it feels great to see a completed piece of work and it doesn't hurt when your friends like it too.

One of the things I had to learn earlier on when I took up sewing again was making my own bias binding/tape. I find putting binding always add that bit of detail that makes a something that started out as being ordinary (but nice) just that little bit more interesting. It's like buying a top that comes with a free matching necklace or brooch.

Sample of bias tape I made to add to the edge of this baby blanket.

The blanket was made with batting and quilted in 3" squares. It's pretty but plain, the blue and white bias edging transforms the blanket.

Anyway... I found this cool tip from The Green Wife who has her own blog. Besides knowing how to put together bias binding/tape (I am going to stick to the word 'tape' as it is shorter to type) the hardwork is ironing the edges in. This video tutorial from the Green Wife will show you a simple and totally clever way of doing it in no time!

Make your own bias tape. - Savvy Seams
Sewing on bias tape. - Angry Chicken

It's Green and it's Delicious - Pandan Cake

There aren't many types of food that is green and tastes good like Pandan Cake. I had a craving recently and decided to hunt down a recipe (a reliable source from House of Annie) to make it myself. I then found out that I needed a chiffon cake thin and also Cream of Tartar (which I couldn't find in the local supermarkets). Luckily the Seoul International Baking Fair was around the corner so I went with some friends and found both items at the show.

Making the cake wasn't too difficult but it was quite time consuming beating the egg white and I had so many egg yolks left over after that. I could have made the cake slightly less green but I thought the colour was rich. The cake turned out beautifully and smelled so good as it was baking. I made the mistake of greasing the cake thin (NEVER grease a chiffon cake tin as it can prevent it from rising) but I was quite lucky as the cake still rose.

Overall I was quite pleased with my first attempt. The cake was moist and springy but I felt it could have been fluffier. I have had some advice on that. Some were that I had to beat the egg whites for longer, another friend said that perhaps I could have added some baking powder etc...
We shall revisit that later when I make my next one. I have tried the same recipe with orange and that tasted totally yummy too. Perhaps a lemon one next?