Songpyeon Cakes: Summer Delights!

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The sweet blisses of the height of summer: a trip up to the mountains, the cooler air fresh with the fragrance of pine. The resplendent beauty of heirloom tomatoes at the farmer’s market, a dazzling display of diversity in their many vibrant colors and lumpy shapes. The smell of those perfectly-ripe tomatoes which you bite into fresh from the garden, along with a handful of sweet strawberries. The sweetness of the first honey harvest of the year, full of clover and wildflowers. Late nights on the back patio when the air has finally started to cool, snacking and visiting with neighbors.  

Food is at its most powerful when it can evoke - pleasure, nostalgia, memories long lost. I love creating food that tells a story, that speaks of my own personal experience but also elicits a reaction of surprise or delight in others. We all have different memories and different associations so everyone’s reaction to the same dish will be different as well, and that is part of the beauty. Sometimes, summertime is coconut sunscreen and watermelon and lake water. This time, it’s ripe tomatoes, alpine strawberries, pine needles, and honey. 

These seemingly-disparate ideas collided in my mind when I first heard about Songpyeon (송편), which is a Korean tteok, or small rice cake, steamed on a bed of pine needles and often filled with honey and beans or nuts. The pine needles lend a subtle woodsy flavor to these small treats, as well as acting like a natural preservative. My curiosity was piqued, so I went looking for more information. 

I learned all about these celebratory rice cakes from this wonderful video by Maangchi, which I highly encourage watching! Songpyeon are traditionally made for the Korean harvest festival called Chuseok, which usually falls in September on the full moon… but since the harvest of fresh heirloom tomatoes is mid-summer, I decided to adapt that recipe to something local worth celebrating. 

And no, tomatoes definitely aren’t traditional, before you get a silly idea like that in your mind. But bear with me: tomatoes and strawberries are a match made in heaven, and both are accented in lovely ways with honey and nuts. It all goes surprisingly well with the subtle pine flavor of the cakes as well, for a sweet snack that is both beautiful and quite tasty. These aren’t like Western confections; they are less sweet, chewy, and deeply satisfying. They’re also really fun to make - like playing with play-doh but delicious and edible! The chewiness of the cake juxtaposes wonderfully with the crunch of toasted nuts, and tiny little basil leaves add a fresh flavor that really pops. These are a great summertime celebratory treat. 

Traditionally, these cakes are made with a special kind of Korean rice flour that has a high hydration and can be found in the frozen section of some Asian groceries. I couldn’t find any and didn’t have the equipment to make it, so I decided to try a combination of glutinous rice flour and plain white rice flour instead. To get the heirloom tomato look, we’ll make three colors of dough: red (colored with strawberries and tomato paste), yellow (colored with peaches) and green (colored with fresh basil.) This recipe makes 10-12 small cakes. 

Red dough: 

1 ½  c. chopped strawberries

1 Tbs. tomato paste 

Pinch of sugar

1 c. glutinous rice flour

½ c. white rice flour

¼ tsp. Salt

Directions: 

1. Add the strawberries and tomato paste to a small saucepan over medium heat. Mash the strawberries as you cook them to release the juices. Meanwhile, whisk together the rice flours and salt in a small heat-proof bowl. 

2. Once the strawberry mixture has been simmering for a while and is smooth and liquid, pass it through a strainer. 

3. Add ½ c. hot strawberry juice to the rice flour and mix well. You may need to add up to another ¼ c. Keep mixing until it is cool enough to handle by hand, then knead into a smooth dough. It should have the consistency of soft playdough. Wrap it up while you prepare the other colors. 

Yellow Dough:

1 peach, chopped

½ c. lemonade

1 c. glutinous rice flour

½ c. white rice flour

Pinch salt

Directions: 

1. Follow the same directions as above, then wrap it up as well. 

Green dough: 

½ c. fresh basil leaves

½ c. boiling water

½ c. glutinous rice flour

¼ c. white rice flour

Pinch salt

Directions: 

1. Add the basil and the boiling water to a blender and puree. Whisk together the rice flours, then add the green liquid, a little at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. Knead until smooth, then wrap and set aside. 

Fillings: 

¼ c. pine nuts

¼ c. pepitas

¼ c. sesame seeds

3 Tbs honey, divided

Directions: 

1. Toast the nuts separately until browned and fragrant, then put them in a bowl. Add 1 Tbs. honey to each mixture and mix well. Set aside

Assembly: 

Pine needles

Steamer basket

natural red food coloring

food-safe paintbrush

tiny basil leaves, optional

Directions: 

1. Find a pot or a pan that your steamer basket can sit on top of or inside and fill with about 2-3” water. Start bringing it to a boil while you shape your cakes.

2. Line a steamer basket with a clean, damp cotton cloth, then a layer of washed pine needles. 

3. Roll each of the colored doughs out into long “snakes.” Cut them into thirds, then combine the snakes to form 2 logs, mixing the colors. (For example, one log might have 5 yellow snakes, 3 red, and 2 green, while the other log might have 5 red, 2 yellow, and one green.) 

4. Cover one log while you shape the other. Roll the different colors together, then fold in half and roll again. Repeat several times until the dough is striped and marbled. Roll the dough into a log that is about 1 ½” in diameter and slice into 5 sections. (They don’t have to be the same size - in fact, varying the sizes will make them more realistic!)

5. Cover the cut sections well and shape one at a time. Carefully pinch it into a bowl shape, then fill with about 1 Tbs. of honey-nut mixture. Gently pinch the top closed to seal. Get your hands slightly damp and roll the ball in your hands to smooth out any cracks. Decide which part you want to use as your top and press down slightly. Use the back of a butter knife to cut ridges in. It’ll look more realistic if some ridges go all the way from top to bottom, some and just at the top and go about halfway down, and some come up from the bottom part way. Add a little extra green dough as a stem. Place in a covered area while you shape the others. 

6. Once you’ve finished shaping the first log of cakes, place them on the needles in the steamer. Place the steamer basket over the boiling water, then wrap the lid in another clean cloth and put it on top. Steam over medium-high heat for 30 minutes, then another 5 over a simmer. Meanwhile, shape your other cakes in the same manner. 

7. When the first batch has finished steaming, remove from the heat and add more water to the pan, if needed. You can paint some details and streaks on with natural red and/or yellow food coloring to make them look more realistic while they are hot. Let cool until you can handle them, then brush them with some sesame oil for a nice shine. Set aside and repeat the steaming and decorating process with the other shaped cakes. 

8. Once all of the cakes have been steamed and slightly cooled, brush them again with some sesame oil. Decorate the top of each with 5 tiny basil leaves to look like tomatoes, then place them on a fresh bed of clean pine needles. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

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