Sofia’s Vasilopita
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that every child gets excited when the Vasilopita is sliced and shared at the stroke of midnight or later on New Years Day; and is hoping beyond all hope, that they are the lucky ones to find the coin in their slice of cake and then enjoy good fortune for the entire year ahead. Sofia has made Vasilopita for her family every year. She has tried many recipes, looking for one that her family will enjoy just as much as the thrill of finding the coin. In her search she found this special recipe, one that she has enhanced with her own addition of glace cherries. It’s a gorgeous cake with hints of spice and orange; festive fruits and nuts and a lovely dense, moist crumb.
Ingredients
375 g white sugar
6 65g eggs at room temperature
250 g unsalted butter melted
110 ml milk
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
180 ml orange juice freshly squeezed from 1 orange
15 g vanillin sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
10-15 ml brandy, cognac or rum
zest of one orange finely grated
675 g self-raising flour sifted
100 g walnuts coarsely chopped
100 g sultanas
100 g glacé cherries quartered
1 small coin
baking paper
Preparation
Watch the full recipe video below. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the Subscribe link on the video
Preparing the Vasilopita
Beat the sugar with the eggs with either a hand-held or stand-up mixer, until the mixture is pale – approximately 4 minutes
Slowly add all but a small amount of the melted butter and mix in well (reserve the remaining butter to baste the cake tin)
Slowly add the milk and mix in well
Ensure the orange juice is in a tall glass
Over the mixing bowl, add the bicarbonate soda to the orange juice and mix these well, before adding them to the cake mixture
While continuing to beat the ingredients, add the vanillin sugar, ground cloves, cinnamon, brandy and the orange zest
Add the flour, one spoonful at a time, while continuing to beat the cake mixture
Reserve one spoonful of the flour
Place the walnuts, sultanas, glacé cherries and reserved flour in a bowl and stir them thoroughly, ensuring all the pieces are coated in flour
Add these ingredients to the cake mixture and continue to beat the mixture till all the fruit and nut pieces are dispersed through the cake batter
Wash, dry and wrap a small coin in baking paper; add this to the cake mixture and mix the batter well
Baste the base and side of a spring-form pan (approximately 25cm diameter and 7.5cm depth) with the reserved butter
Line the cake pan with baking paper and baste that as well
Pour the cake mixture into the pan and tap the pan on its sides and base to spread the mixture evenly in the pan
Baking the Vasilopita
Place the cake pan in a fan-forced oven preheated to 160°C
Do not open the oven door for the first hour
After the cake has baked for an hour, insert a long skewer into the centre of the cake through a natural crack in the surface of the cake. If the skewer comes out with uncooked batter on it, return the cake to the oven and bake it for another 5-10 minutes. Check the cake once again with a new skewer. When the skewer comes out clean or lightly crumbed, remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes in the pan
Carefully remove the cake from the pan, peel away the baking paper from the base of the cake and cool it further on a cake rack
Once the cake has completely cooled, decorate it with a generous dusting of icing sugar and using pomegranate arils or toasted almond slivers or flakes, write the letter Χ and Π, which stand for Χρόνια Πολλά, on the top
Serving the Vasilopita
Serve the Vasilopita at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Day or during your celebration later that day
Traditionally the first slice is reserved for Jesus and the second for the family home where the celebration is taking place
The following piece is served to the eldest person at the gathering. Continuing on, the next eldest is served and so on
The person lucky enough to find the coin in their slice of cake is said to have prosperity and good fortune all through the New Year
