Vasilopita is a traditional Greek bread baked for New Year’s Day. The bread contains a hidden coin that is said to bring luck to whoever finds a piece with it.
Ingredients
2-4 oranges
400 grams sugar
500 grams flour
5 eggs
250 ml olive oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
A pinch of cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
A handful of ground nuts and dried fruit
5-6 tablespoons caster sugar
A coin wrapped in tinfoil
Cooking method
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Peel the oranges and squeeze their juice. Grate the remaining orange peel and mix it with olive oil and orange juice (use a blender if you can). In a large bowl whip the eggs and sugar. Then add the orange juice mixture, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts and dried fruit.
Mix well.
If you are going to add a coin, then do it now. Don’t forget to wrap it in tinfoil.
Bake the bread for approximately an hour. After removing the bread from the oven, let it cool, then sprinkle it with caster sugar.
