New Year's Day Cake Vassilopita

Photo courtesy of whippedtheblog.com

Coming from a Greek and Italian background our holiday celebrations always centered around food. One Greek tradition that I vividly remember is the New Year’s Day good luck cake which in Greek is called Vassilopita. There are various forms of this pastry but I wanted to share with you my Mom’s recipe. The New Year’s Day cake or bread would be baked with a coin inside the batter. Usually a dime though it could be a quarter. On New Year’s Day morning the family would sit around the table and each family member, old to young, would be given a piece of the cake. The person that found the coin in the cake was to have good luck throughout the year. I think I received maybe 6 coins my entire life although I have to say I’ve been pretty lucky. I did not have a photo of the cake so I searched the internet and found the above photo which shows the cake and the coin. In any case I wanted to share with all of you my Mom’s recipe for the cake.

3 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 lb. sweet butter
1 cup sugar
6 eggs well beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbls. honey
1 cup flour
1 cup farina (cream of wheat)
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
3 tsp. baking powder
Dime or Quarter.

Bring the water to a boil in saucepan. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in lemon juice then remove from heat. Cool at room temperature. Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl, Add sugar. Cream 5 minutes longer. Beat in eggs, vanilla, honey and walnuts. Add flour, farina, the dime or quarter ( make sure to boil the coin before adding) and baking powder. Beat until smooth. Pour into a buttered 9 x13 x2 baking pan. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and glaze top with honey. Let it set 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!