30/12/2023
Vasilopita - New Year’s Eve most favorite Greek custom (See below a great recipe)
Saint Basil-pie' or 'Vassilis pie in Greek is a New Year's Day Cake in Greece, which contains a hidden coin which gives good luck to the receiver. It is associated with Saint Basil's day, January 1. It is made of a variety of dough, depending on regional and family tradition.
On New Year's Day families share the vasilopita to bless the house and bring good luck for the New Year. This is usually done at midnight of New Year's Eve. A coin is hidden in the Cake by slipping it into the dough before baking. A piece of cake is sliced for each member of the family and any visitors present at the time, by order of age from eldest to youngest. In older times, the coin often was a valuable one, such as a gold sovereign. Nowadays there is often a prearranged gift, money, or otherwise, to be given to the coin recipient.
New Year's Cake 2024
Ingredients:
250 g all-purpose flour
250 g sugar
250 g good quality cow butter (not margarine)
250 g pitted prunes
200 g dark chocolate
200 g white chocolate
200 g almonds
200 g hazelnuts
200 ml Cognac or brandy
6 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
Instructions:
Coarsely chop the prunes and soak them in Cognac in advance for an hour.
In a food processor, sequentially add almonds, hazelnuts, and chocolates, then coarsely chop them.
Grate the zest of one orange.
In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy for about five minutes. Gradually add the eggs, beating to homogenize the mixture.
Slowly add the flour to the mixture.
Add baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and orange zest. Beat for a short while in the mixer until the ingredients are well combined.
Remove the mixer bowl and fold in the soaked prunes with Cognac, almonds, hazelnuts using a spatula until the ingredients are well mixed.
Transfer the mixture to a buttered and floured cake pan or a medium-sized baking tray.
Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius (approximately 347 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 60 minutes.
Remove from the oven, release the cake from the pan, place a coin wrapped in aluminum foil, and decorate as desired.
Note: Make sure to check the cake's doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center – it should come out clean when the cake is ready.
Enjoy your New Year's Cake 2024!
