Greece has a lovely tradition of baking a special cake on New Year’s Day to start things off right. It’s called “Basilopita”.
Those who follow the tradition hide golden lira coins at the bottom of the cake, but any coin will do. They cut the cake into slices on New Year’s Day and named each slice after all of their family and friends as they cut. Those who are lucky enough to get a coin in their slice will have a very lucky year. Try it out with your family and friends!
Written by Akis Petretzikis
Material →
Initial mixture:
- 300g butter at room temperature
- 250g powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered nutmeg
- Mastic 2g
- Marabu 7g
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1-2 grated orange peels
- 2 bags of vanilla powder or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Second mixture:
- 4 eggs (200g)
- 75 ml milk, 3.5% fat
Third mixture:
- 400g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
Method →
- Preheat the oven to 180*C (350*F) fan.
- In a mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Stop beating and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat for another 5 minutes. (It’s important that the butter is at room temperature; the softer the butter, the fluffier the mixture will be.)
- While waiting, add the remaining ingredients from the first mixture (except the orange zest) and mix with 1 tablespoon of sugar in a mixer until powdery. When ready, add the orange zest and mix.
- Add this powder mixture to the mixer and beat on low speed.
- Add all ingredients for the second mixture in batches. Release the mixing bowl and add the third mixture ingredient. Mix with a large spoon.
- Grease and flour a 9-inch round springform baking pan. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes.
- When ready, remove from the oven, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
- If you want to follow the Greek tradition, wrap the coin and place it somewhere on the cake before baking. It will be a lucky New Year for those whose family and friends found it in the slice.
Watch Akis make this delicious cake here –
Check out more great recipes by Akis Petretzikis here. akispetretzikis.com