Hello everyone! It’s been a little hectic lately since I went back to university last week, but I’m making my best effort to be as consistent with my blog as possible!
I decided to try something new this week, which is introduce a new type of post – Trend watch!
Basically I’ll be talking about a current trend going on in Korea, what it’s about, and how you can participate if you’re interested!
On that note, the first trend we’re going to look at is one that has exploded over the past month – strawberries!
Winter is generally the time when strawberries are their cheapest (still pricey ㅠㅠ), so it’s no surprise that they’re a current hit, much like mango was last summer!
Coffee shops and bakeries all over Seoul are getting into the trend of adding strawberries to EVERYTHING. Drinks, food, you name it, it will have strawberries! I even saw a strawberry cream sandwich at GS25 which goes to show there is no limit to Korea’s creativity when it comes to trends.
If you’re looking for desserts, Paris Baguette is the way to go. They’ve released a HUGE line of strawberry themed pastries that are all different and unique in their own way. If cake is your thing, they have that going as well, as you can see in the header of this post!
Sure, it might be below freezing out, but maybe you’re craving something cold. If so, Sulbing is for you! Sulbing’s bingsu of all varieties are amazing, but to go with the trend they have created some varieties of the famous cold dessert that are PACKED with strawberries to the brim! If you’re more of a ddeok (pounded rice cake) person, they have that too!
As you can see, coffee shops and eateries all over Seoul are hopping on the strawberry trend. From Angel-In-Us to Cafe Bene, Twosome Place, and even makeup shops like Etude House! (No, apparently I can’t even go two full posts without mentioning EH…)
Everywhere you look there are strawberries to be seen! I figure Korea must have had a really good strawberry season and now need to get rid of them before they go bad, thus the current “strawberry in ALL THE THINGS.” That, or the Illuminati are behind it…
I couldn’t end a trend watch post without sampling some of the goods myself! I ended up choosing Mango Six for this, as despite being a little pricey, their drinks are always really creative and taste great.
Turns out I chose well!
I went with the Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Smoothie!
This thing was craziness! They gave me both a spoon and a straw, so you can choose to drink through the straw or scoop everything out with the spoon. Taking a bite of the cheesecake + cream + strawberries all together is heaven in your mouth. I’m not much of a whipped cream eater because I find it to be too sweet, but the tanginess of the smoothie worked amazing with the sweetness, balancing it out so it wasn’t too sickening. I was surprised I was able to finish it all despite not being much of a sweet eater – it was that good.
Yes, it was that big. Yes, I ate it all by myself. No regrets.
My friend went with the strawberry tea. It had floating strawberries and lemon in it! It looked and smelled delicious, and apparently tasted great! I keep forgetting to try what my friends order, even if they order it for the sake of my blog… (o´罒`o)
When browsing Etude’s new line of chocolate shadows I found this tutorial that I thought might be interesting for some of my followers! It’s a simple recipe that can be done with the tools you have at home.
- Lay down a piece of plastic wrap
- Take a piece of white bread, cut off the crusts, and flatten it with a rolling pin
- Spread fresh cream on the bread and put strawberries down the middle
- Roll up the bread with the plastic and press it together so it sticks
- Cut, and enjoy!
Final thoughts…
That’s it for my first Trend Watch post! If you have any opinions on what kind of things I should make posts about in the future, feel free to share them in the comments below, or on my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/jasmineitorinkorea)
I hope you enjoyed this post, as I enjoyed making it! Trends come and go very quickly in Korea, so I’m interested in seeing what kind of creative thing will pop up next!
Jasmineitor & Korea 