The ritual and recipe of the traditional “Vassilopita” New Year’s cake
We make our “Vassilopita” New Year’s cake - a tradition which remains very much alive in every Greek Orthodox home - and wholeheartedly wish that our piece of the cake will contain the lucky coin...a sign that the year is going to be a prosperous and happy one for us.
Every lady of the house across Greece bakes a “Vassilopita” cake during the last few days of the year and never forgets to put a coin within the ingredients before placing the baking tray into the oven.
The family gathers around the table usually on New Years Day and the sweet and aromatic cake is traditionally cut by the senior member of the family. Each portion of the Vassilopita cake is distributed to the members but also the first pieces cut are devoted to Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and to St. Basil the Great whose name the cake actually bears. Then, more portions are cut for the members of the family beginning with the eldest. The person who receives the portion of the cake which contains the coin, is considered blessed for the New Year and possibly also receives a gift or a sum of money from the senior member of the house.
Recipe for traditional “Vassilopita” cake
Ingredients:
- 250 grams of margarine / butter
- 400 grams of sugar
- 6 eggs
- 200 ml of milk
- 500 grams of flour
- 1 glass of brandy
- grated orange rind of 1 orange
- 1 sachet of vanilla
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoonful of baking powder
- 200 grams of roasted almonds
Don’t forget to put the lucky coin inside the dough!
Cooking process:
We start off by sifting the flour with the baking powder to make a fluffy dough. Then, we beat the margarine with the sugar and the pinch of salt until the mixture turns white and soft. We add the egg yolks one by one and then the lemon zest, the vanilla, the milk and the glass of brandy mixing continuously.
We continue by beating the egg whites in another bawl until they become a firm meringue. In our egg mixture, we pour this meringue and gradually the flour folding the mixture gently with a spatula. To finish off, we add the roasted almonds and mix gently. We then take a baking tray and coat it with the margarine. We pour the mixture in the tray and we don’t omit to place the lucky coin inside! The cake should be baked in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 1 hour. When ready, let it cool down for around 5 minutes and remove from the baking tray into a large festive platter. It is a nice idea to also sprinkle caster sugar on top of the cake plus to decorate its top side with almonds to form the year 2014.
