Every year during New Year’s Eve, Greek housewives make the vasilopita. Vasilopita is a either a cake or a tsoureki and is a custom that comes from the very early Christian years.
Just after the coming of the New Year or the next day the Chief of the family cuts the vasilopita. The person, who makes this pie, puts a coin inside the pie and whoever wins the coin is the lucky person of the year.
Η συνταγή και στα ελληνικά στο τέλος της ανάρτησης!
Story says that when Saint Basil was the bishop in Cappadocia in Asia Minor, a Roman Prefect wanted to conquer the place. Saint Basil gathered all the wealth of the people lived in there, so as to give it as ransom to the Romans, in order not to loot the area. But either because the Prefect had second thoughts, or because of God’s intervention, the place stayed intact. Saint Basil of course didn’t know which item belonged to each person, so he ordered people to make pies and he put all the jewelry and valuable things inside them and distributed them among the community members.
Each year I try a new recipe and so far all my attempts were very successful. You can check my other vasilopitas here and here. This year I decided to make it as a tsoureki, which is a sweet bread similar to the Jewish challah. I took the recipe from the Crete’s Mills a company that makes flour.
I am showing you these photos of the vasilopita, but I have no idea how it tastes. I will let you know in my next post. All I can tell you is that, while it was baking, it smelled heavenly.
So let’s go and make this!
Vasilopita for 2013
Ingredients
550 gr. /1.2 lb. flour for bread, shifted. It may need 50 gr. /1.7 oz. more depending on the weather
150 gr. /5 oz. sugar
15 gr. /2 tbsp dry yeast
100 gr. /3.5 oz. milk, scalded
3 eggs
6 tears of mastic, powdered
5 gr. /1 tsp mahlepi, powdered
1 tsp salt
1 egg whisked with a 2 tbsp of milk
White almonds for decorating it
Instructions
In a bowl we add the 50 gr. /1.7 oz. of sugar, the yeast, the scalded milk, and 2 tbsp of flour and let it rise for about 15 minutes.
In the mixer we put the rest of the ingredients except the whisked egg and the almonds.
Throw the risen yeast and start kneading with the mixer’s hook.
Slowly, slowly start adding the flour until we get a somewhat sticky dough.
Take it out of the mixer and knead it for a minute with your hands covered with oil.
Put it in a bowl and let it rise in a warm place for one and half hour.
Butter well a round pan.
Take the dough and knead for a minute.
Add a coin covered with aluminum foil and incorporate it in the dough.
Put the dough in the pan and stress it with your hands to cover the bottom of it.
Let it stay for 30 minutes.
Take the whisked egg and brush the vasilopita’s surface.
Take the almonds and form the number 2013.
Bake in a preheated oven at 170° C/345° F for 30 to 35 minutes or until the surface is golden brown.
- 550 gr. /1.2 lb. flour for bread, shifted. It may need 50 gr. /1.7 oz. more depending on the weather
- 150 gr. /5 oz. sugar
- 15 gr. /2 tbsp dry yeast
- 100 gr. /3.5 oz. milk, scalded
- 3 eggs
- 6 tears of mastic, powdered
- 5 gr. /1 tsp mahlepi, powdered
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg whisked with a 2 tbsp of milk
- White almonds for decorating it
- In a bowl we add the 50 gr. /1.7 oz. of sugar, the yeast, the scalded milk, and 2 tbsp of flour and let it rise for about 15 minutes.
- In the mixer we put the rest of the ingredients except the whisked egg and the almonds.
- Throw the risen yeast and start kneading with the mixer’s hook.
- Slowly, slowly start adding the flour until we get a somewhat sticky dough.
- Take it out of the mixer and knead it for a minute with your hands covered with oil.
- Put it in a bowl and let it rise in a warm place for one and half hour.
- Butter well a round pan.
- Take the dough and knead for a minute.
- Add a coin covered with aluminum foil and incorporate it in the dough.
- Put the dough in the pan and stress it with your hands to cover the bottom of it.
- Let it stay for 30 minutes.
- Take the whisked egg and brush the vasilopita’s surface.
- Take the almonds and form the number 2013.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 170° C/345° F for 30 to 35 minutes or until the surface is golden brown.
- Αλεύρι σκληρό για τσουρέκι (κοσκινισμένο): 550 - 600 γρ.
- Ζάχαρη: 200 γρ.
- Μαγιά: 45 γρ. νωπή ή 15 γρ. ξηρή
- Γάλα φρέσκο (χλιαρό): 100 γρ.
- Αυγά: 3
- Βούτυρο (μαλακό): 125 γρ.
- Μαστίχα κοπανισμένη: 6 δάκρυα
- Μαχλέπι: 5 γρ.
- Αλάτι: 2,5 γρ.
- 1 αυγό χτυπημένο με λίγο γάλα (για την επικάλυψη)
- Αμύγδαλα φιλέ (για τη διακόσμηση)
- Βάζουμε σε ένα μπολ 50 γρ. από τη ζάχαρη, τη μαγιά, το γάλα χλιαρό, λίγο από το αλεύρι, ανακατεύουμε και αφήνουμε να φουσκώσει.
- Στο μίξερ βάζουμε τα υπόλοιπα υλικά, προσθέτουμε τη μαγιά που έχει φουσκώσει και ζυμώνουμε προσθέτοντας το αλεύρι σταδιακά, μέχρι να πάρουμε μια ζύμη ελαφρώς κολλώδη.
- Αφήνουμε τη ζύμη σκεπασμένη σε ζεστό περιβάλλον να φουσκώσει για μιάμιση ώρα περίπου.
- Ξαναδουλεύουμε ελαφρώς τη ζύμη με λαδωμένα χέρια και βάζουμε μέσα ένα νόμισμα.
- Τη μεταφέρουμε σε βουτυρωμένο ταψί και την πατάμε με την παλάμη μας.
- Αφήνουμε πάλι σε ζεστό περιβάλλον για άλλα 30 λεπτά να φουσκώσει.
- Με ένα πινέλο αλείφουμε προσεκτικά την επιφάνειά της βασιλόπιτας με το μίγμα αυγού και διακοσμούμε με τα αμύγδαλα.
- Ψήνουμε σε προθερμασμένο φούρνο στους 170 C για 30 – 35 λεπτά μέχρι να ροδίσει.