Decorating Songpyeon is something Koreans started to do in recent years. You can decorate it with small flowers using different color doughs or even make fun Songpyeon for Halloween with little pumpkins and skulls for a fun treat. Make pretty flower songpyeon for the holidays!
Decorate Songpyeon for Halloween & the Holidays!
Typically Songpyeon is only made for Chuseok but in recent years, Koreans started to add flower decorations and also make peach or pumpkin-shaped songpyeon for more fun. So.. I thought, why not then make a Jack O’ Lantern pumpkin songpyeon for Halloween?!! And remember this cute dessert or snack is also gluten-free and vegan.
And it’s just like playing with playdough! Also, the great thing is that it’s edible, gluten free and with my color dough recipes, you can make White, Yellow, Green, Pink and Purple using all natural ingredients! In this post, I’m sharing recipe to make Green and Purple dough, please check out my original Songpyeon post for other colors.
How to make Colored Dough for Songpyeon
Time needed: 1 hour
Here’s a quick How to make colored dough for Songpyeon. Refer to my original Songpyeon recipe for more detailed instructions or watch my narrated YouTube Video below.
The basic ingredient you will need is the Tteok Rice Powder aka Maepssal Garu 멥쌀가루 which is ground powder made from soaked white rice. Korean stores will sell them frozen since the powder is quite moist. You can also make your own at home with my Tteok Rice Powder Recipe or watch my How to make rice powder for Songpyeon video.
- Make fillings of your choice
Sesame Filling (video 7:33)- mix 1/2 cup sesame seeds, 2 Tbsp honey, 1/8 tsp sea salt, 1/2~1 tsp sugar (optional)
Chestnut Filling (video 9:03)- 1/2 cup chopped canned chestnuts, 1/8 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Mung Bean Filling (video 9:59) – mix honey and salt into cooked mungbeans - Purple Dough for Songpyeon (see video at 21:07)
Make 2 Tbsp of blueberry juice (blend 1/4 cup blueberries + 2 Tbsp water then cook in microwave for 25-30 secs, then straining). To 2 cups of tteok rice powder add 2 Tbsp of hot blueberry juice + 2 Tbsp hot boiling water. First mix with a spatula then when it’s cool enough to handle, knead with hands. Cover and set aside.
- White Dough for Songpyeon (see video at 13:22)
Mix 2 cups of tteok rice powder and 70 ml of boiling water and knead into a dough. First, use a spatula to mix until it becomes cool enough to handle then use your hands!
- Yellow Dough for Songpyeon (see video at 16:23)
Cook Kabocha squash and add 50g of smashed squash to 2 cups tteok rice powder and 60ml hot boiling water. Mix and knead until dough becomes evenly yellow.
- Green Dough for Songpyeon (see video at 22:22)
Mix 2 cups tteok rice powder, 2 1/2 tsp Ssuk (mugwort) powder or Matcha powder and 70 ml hot boiling water. Mix with spatula then with your hands to make a dough.
Halloween Songpyeon Designs
You can make pumpkin songpyeon as follows. Use whatever filling you would like and the basic colors will be yellow and green. Watch my video to see how I make it!
Pumpkin Songpyeon (video 2:38)
For pumpkin shape, you will need yellow and green dough.
Get a walnut-sized YELLOW dough and roll it around between your hands to shape a ball. Then push down the center to make a little bowl. Add a spoonful of the filling then close up the dough to make into a ball again. Using a toothpick, make an indentation on the top parts of the ball to make grooves/ridges like a pumpkin.
Using the GREEN dough, make a leaf and also a little stem.
Jack O’ Lantern 🎃 pumpkin (video 6:23) Songpyeon for halloween
Using the green dough, make 2 triangles for eyes and a long thin strand to make the mouth for the Jack O’ Lantern pumpkin.
Skull (video 3:50)
Skull (Haegol 해골) – make white songpyeon and then reshape as a ball then back into a skull shape. Then made indentations for the eyes and mouth then fill them with black sesame seeds.
Flower Songpyeon for the Holidays
Flower Songpyeon
The simplest way is to make some flower petals or even sticking a few tiny small balls will make a flower. Here are some different flowers I made – some with just tiny balls, some with more flattened petals.
Basic Flower (Video 9:35)
Calla Lily Design (Video 8:00)
Hibiscus Flower on White Pumpkin (Video 11:03)
Leaf-Shaped Songpyeon (Video 10:21)
Make a simple leaf-shaped songpyeon by using a green dough then reshaping into a thick leaf like in the video.
Finished Uncooked Songpyeon
From the video on the left, you can view all the fun Songpyeon designs I made for Halloween and also some pretty flower ones for Halloween. Note, these are uncooked – the color will change a bit once it’s steamed.
Decorating Tips
- wet dough makes a smoother surface so coat the dough with a little bit of water and wet dough is also easier to handle BUT if it is too wet, it may not hold the shape as well so it’s a fine balance
- use a toothpick to make indentations or other designs
- if you live in a dry climate like me, the dough can dry out pretty quickly so make sure you keep them covered with a wet towel while you work.
Storage
Songpyeon should be refrigerated at the end of the day and frozen for long-term storage. You can freeze both uncooked and cooked ones. Reheating – it’s best to reheat by steaming again. Microwave is not recommended as it may make it too hard.
Happy Holidays! ❤️
JinJoo
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