The tradition of the vasilopita cake is probably one of my favorite Greek customs that we have. The best part is the fun in finding the coin that is hidden inside the cake. The recipient of which is said to have good luck for the entire new year!
The tradition of the vasilopita cake comes from the 4th century history of St. Basil the Great. I’m familiar with 2 variations of this story, but in short St. Basil was responsible for placing a gold coin within a cake or bread and giving to those who were less fortunate. To this day, Greek families make their vasilopitas with a coin baked in or placed in after cooking (any coin will do) to commemorate the new year with blessings and good luck.
This is the recipe my mom uses and we eat this cake on New Year’s day. Typically we decorate it with powdered sugar or toasted slivered almonds, but this year added pomegranate and rosemary with orange zest. You can find the recipe used below!
Use pieces of wax or parchment paper slightly tucked under your cake to make your clean up much easier. You could just add the orange zest at this point or go on to add the rosemary and pomegranate.
Happy New Year everyone! Xronia Polla!!
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Flour
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 1 Cup Butter
- 1 Cup Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
- 4 Eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
- Zest of 2 oranges (1 tsp for batter, 1 for topping)
- 1-2 oz Brandy (Cognac)
- Powdered Sugar (for topping)
- Pomegranate seeds (for decoration)
- Rosemary Sprigs (for decoration)
- Gold coin washed and wrapped in aluminum foil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Generously grease then lightly flour a round 10 inch pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder, set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl, add the butter and the sugar and beat until well combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time making sure each is combined before adding another. Add the brandy, mix well, then add the a tsp of orange zest.
- Begin adding the flour mixture to the wet ingredients a little at a time, then add some of the orange juice - try to do this in thirds so you end with the flour. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and the orange juice until everything is combined.
- Add the batter to cake pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, depending on your oven. Check with a toothpick for doneness. Let cool. Once cool, move to desired cake stand.
- To add coin: Carefully lift the bottom edge of the cake and quickly insert the coin into the bottom of the cake.
- To decorate cake: Place wax or parchment paper just under cake and around sides for easy clean up. Dust powdered sugar onto cake with sifter, covering the entire surface evenly. You could be done here, or if you prefer using cleaned pomegranate seeds, write out the year. Then using fresh rosemary sprigs, create a wreath like look around the cake. Add the zest of about 1 orange.
