Vasilopita (Greek New Year's cake)
Vasilopita is a unique Greek New Year’s cake, enjoyed on January 1st as a symbol of good luck and prosperity. This festive treat often has a hidden coin tucked inside, believed to bring fortune to whoever finds it. Sharing vasilopita slices with loved ones is a cherished tradition, with the lucky recipient of the coin thought to receive blessings for the year to come.
We dissolve the yeast and some of the flour in the warm milk and leave the mixture in a warm place to rise.
We boil the mackerel in a little water and strain it, keeping the liquid for later.
We beat the eggs and also slightly heat the butter.
We put the flour in the kneading bowl and create a hole in the center in which we will add all the ingredients.
We pout the butter, sugar, eggs, the puffed year mixture, the reserved water and a little salt into the bowl one after the other.
We knead well until we have a firm dough and leave it in a floured basin, in a warm place, covered to let it rise.
We knead the dough slightly again and give it the appropriate shape.
We place it in a buttered and floured pan and hide the gold coin inside.
We sprinkle the surface with slivered almonds and if we want we form the number of the new year.
We let the Vasilopita rise for a little while longer and brush it with a beaten egg.
We bake it in a preheated oven at 170 degrees on the resistances.
Once cooled, we sprinkle with a little powdered sugar.
All ingredients should be at room temperature.
The flour must be sifted.
To be sure that the vasilopita is cooked from the inside, we dip a knife into the pie. If the blade come out dry, it mean that the vasilopita is ready.
