I have always equated New Year's Eve with the opportunity to find
the Φλουρί (coin) in the Vasilopita. For those who aren’t of Greek decent, a
Vasilopita—literally, the pie of Saint Basil—is a special cake we make only for
New Year's Eve. The Vasilopita can take the form of a bread or a cake (I
prefer the latter), and always contains a foil-wrapped coin. The person who
finds the coin in their piece, is said to be blessed with good luck for a year—you
are then supposed to keep the coin in a safe place for the entire year.
I’m not all too
familiar with the actual historical background of Saint Basil, or why/how the Vasilopita came to be, so I won’t pretend to know for your sake. If you are
interested in the story I’m sure Google with have the answers.
For years my family has always bought the Vasilopita bread,
which as I said before, I’m not too fond of. So for this year, I decided to
make my own Vasilopita cake. Although there are plenty of recipes online for
the Vasilopita —and I even asked friends and family for their own recipes—I
wasn’t too happy with any of them. As a result, I came up with my own—inspired by
at least 6 different recipes.
Just a few quick
notes on the actual recipe: I decided to use self-rising flour instead of
plain flour + baking soda + baking powder, just because it is easier, and I had
plenty lying around. I also used yoghurt (or you can use sour cream), because I like how moist it makes the
consistency of cakes (I learned this the hard way, back when I was testing out cupcakes/muffins
recipes). A few recipes also had the addition of Brandy, but since I didn’t have
any—and I definitely wasn’t going to go out to buy some—I decided to exclude it.
I also separated the eggs and whipped the egg whites, to make my cake fluffier/lighter.
Lastly, Orange zest and Orange juice are staples in Greek baking, so there’s
that.
