Name: New year’s cake with a tsoureki aroma
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 3 eggs, at room temperature; 115 g olive oil; 220 g milk; 350 g self-rising flour; 50 g coconut sugar; 6 g mahleb; 1 g mastic (3–4 mastic tears ground in a mortar); 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp cardamom; ½ tsp vanilla extract; 3 tsp ground almonds or walnuts (optional); 60 g raisins (optional); ½ orange, the zest

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This year, our vasilopita was made through your own ideas and inspirations, which you’ve sent me on my Instagram account, @littlehands_blw. Through you, I’ve learned that in most places around Greece, they make tsoureki vasilopita, something that we don’t do here in Crete; also, that the almonds symbolize good luck; and finally, that you want something simpler and easier. However, two of you asked for this particular recipe, and I liked the idea so much that I prepared it and I’m presenting it to you. It’s tasty, fluffy, similar to cake, easy, and incredibly aromatic and it’s the New Year’s cake that the little hands will have in our own New Year’s dinner! JUMP TO RECIPE but first, read everything you need to know and receive all of my wishes for a happy new year! 🙂

What we are going to need

Flour. In this recipe, I used self-rising flour, but even with this flour, I always add some baking powder.
Eggs. 3 in total, which have to be at room temperature.
Olive oil. I could have used butter, but as you know, I don’t often do, as I usually substitute it with coconut oil. In this case, though, I didn’t have enough, and also, I wanted to keep the recipe simple (since I’m posting it so last minute, and I want it to have ingredients you might already have at home).
Milk. I used sheep milk, but you can use anything you might have. If you want to make a more baby-friendly-version, then use plant milk or yogurt with a little added water.
Coconut sugar. In one of my trial runs, I used honey, but I wanted to keep this recipe more baby-friendly, so I added coconut sugar. You can do the substitution by adding a little more flour.
Spices. What do we need for the whole house to smell like tsoureki? Just like in our wonderful tsoureki pancakes, you’ll need cardamom, ground mahleb, and mastic. You’ll need to grind the mastic in a mortar, as well.
Almonds. For good luck, as you said, I added them to the recipe. Every year, I used to add walnuts, but this year, I added almonds. You can skip them or substitute them with walnuts, though you should always grind them well for the little hands.
Raisins. The little hands of the family love them so they got in the recipe to make it soar and they go amazingly well with the tsoureki aroma. If you don’t like them, just skip them, since they’re optional.
Orange zest. Half an orange should be enough but if you like a more intense orange aroma, adjust it to your liking.

Tips

Every oven is different, so check during baking. Don’t open the oven in the first 30 minutes, though, because it’s very possible that the cake will never rise.
Turn the vasilopita over to decorate it any way you like, if you want it to be flat, to make things easier for you.
Some ideas for decoration (besides the classic icing sugar, which I don’t suggest) are shredded coconut (which I used), cocoa, almond flour, pomegranate, lemon icing, coconut frosting, almond flakes, various vasilopita decorations, and anything else you can imagine.
Place the lucky coin at the end, after the cake has been baked.
Remove from the cake tin only after it has cooled.
Be careful with the quantity of the mastic. Mastic can get bitter, so if you don’t have a digital scale, add 3–4 tears to be on the safe side.

I wish you a happy new year, with health, happiness, creativity, and love! May 2021 bring smiles and hugs to you all! Of course, I wish you a good luck in getting the lucky coin, too!

Other suggestions for alternative New Year’s cake:

Last year’s vasilopita later became banana bread with almond flour. I used the same frosting recipe as last year, and you’ll find it here.

Prep Time10 minsCook Time45 minsTotal Time55 mins

3 eggs, at room temperature

115 g olive oil

220 g milk

350 g self-rising flour

50 g coconut sugar

6 g mahleb

1 g mastic (3–4 mastic tears ground in a mortar)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cardamom

½ tsp vanilla extract

3 tsp ground almonds or walnuts (optional)

60 g raisins (optional)

½ orange, the zest

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

Oil and flour a round cake tin, about 22 centimetres wide, and set it aside.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl.

Add the olive oil, the coconut sugar, the milk, the vanilla, and the zest, and mix well.

Mix the flour, the baking powder, the mahleb, the mastic (ground in the mortar), and the cardamom in another mixing bowl.

Add the liquids to the solids and mix until homogenous.

Finally, add the walnuts and the raisins, if you add any.

Move the mixture to the cake tin and then put in the oven.

Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted inside it emerges dry.

Let it cool and then remove from the tin.

Decorate and serve.

Ingredients