Well finally I’m back and so much has happened since my last blog, we have finally moved, waited nearly four weeks for broadband, had snow and been snowed in and I fell over on the ice and have been bed bound. So pretty manic as usual, not much time for cooking but I do have a few new dishes that I need to get typed up and on here as soon as I can.
 
I am very disappointed as I really wanted to do a Christmas theme of recipes, maybe a 12 days of Christmas kind of thing, or a recipe advent count down, but as its now the 10th December its a little to late and so I have gone to the other extreme, totally missed Christmas out (not a bad idea as I haven’t brought any presents, written any cards or even put up any decoration yet) and jumped a head to New Year.
 
I thought that as we have a NEW house, the book that the recipe comes from is my NEW Tessa Kiros one, which I have been dying to cook from, this is the first recipe that I have cooked from it and it will be NEW Year in only a few weeks. All makes complete sense to return to my Blog with this recipe.
 
Anyway a little history about the Vassilopitta. The Vassilopitta is a cake in which a gold coin has been baked. The cake is served in a sequence, the first piece is set aside for St. Basil, a founder member of the Greek Church, the second for the home, and the remaining is distributed amongst the family members, from oldest to youngest. Who ever finds the coin in their serving of cake will have a lucky year.
 
I don’t know about you, but I love traditions like this.
 
Ευτυχισμένο το Νέο Έτος (Happy New Year)
Makes 1 large cake
 
1 coin (Euro/Dollar/Pound)
450g plain flour
3 heaped teaspoons baking powder
200g unsalted butter at room temperature
300g sugar (I used golden caster sugar)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
4 tablespoons brandy (I used Marsala)
185ml milk
50g blanched almonds, finely chopped
Icing sugar for dusting
 
Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4
 
Butter & flour a 28cm spring-form cake tin.
 
Rinse the coin, dry it well and wrap it tightly in foil.
 
Sift the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together into a bowl.
 
Whip the butter and sugar together with electric beaters in a large bowl until creamy.
 
Add the eggs one at a time, whisking each one in well. Beat in the vanilla and the orange and lemon zests.
 
Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the brandy and the milk, then fold in the almonds. Scrape into a tin. Drop the coin in now, trying to keep it upright, not flat.
 
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
 
Cool in the tin for 5 minutes or so before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
 
Put a doily (if you don’t have one just take a circle of paper, fold like you did when you were at school and cut a snowflake patter) on top of the cake and dust with the icing sugar, removing it to reveal a lacy patter. You can also cut a stencil of the numbers of the year you are in and dust that. Cut a piece for everybody and serve, enjoy and see you will have a lucky year a head.
 
I must just say that another amazing Tessa recipe, I can highly recommend her books and her recipes always come out perfectly every time. As you can tell I am a HUGE fan.