By Maria Athanasopoulos

The 12 days of Christmas may be long over for us, but in Greece they are still going strong since the holiday season begins on December 25th and lasts until January 6th, also known as “Dodekaimera”. New Year’s is more festive than Christmas in Greece and is surely the most loved holiday for children, since this is when they receive their presents and celebrate Santa Claus or as they call him, St. Basil. Although many special dishes are prepared for this holiday, the Vasilopita, which literally means St. Basil’s bread, is by far the most important dish. This traditional Greek New Year’s cake is eaten on January 1st in nearly every single Greek household worldwide. The cutting of the Vasilopita is a very important tradition in all Greek homes, not only in Greece but also for those in the Diaspora. Families come together to see which member will get the “flouri”, the lucky coin, and be blessed for the year.

Every household has their own set of traditional rules for cutting the Vasilopita. Here is a set of the most common that my family also follows each year:

1. The cake is ceremoniously cut by the head of the household, who makes the sign of the cross over the bread with a knife before cutting. (In my home it is my dad).

2. The first piece is dedicated to Jesus Christ, the 2nd to the Virgin Mary, the 3rd to Saint Basil, the 4th to the house and then it’s distributed by age, oldest to youngest.

3. If you get the coin in your piece, then you are believed to be the lucky one of the year! Congrats, you keep the coin but also have to eat your entire piece!

This cake or as some call it, sweet bread, is absolutely divine dipped in coffee and healthy enough to have for breakfast or a snack. It is also very portable and so I tend to eat Vasilopita for breakfast at work for about a week straight after the New Year. As usual, I was certain there was a way to modify my family’s century old recipe to make it just a tiny bit heart-friendly in order to have it on a daily basis.

DID YOU KNOW

Applesauce is a great way to cut calories and lighten up your most decadent goodies?
Fruit purees such as applesauce can replace up to half of the fat called for in baked items. The natural sugars and fibers in applesauce help to retain moisture and taste, so put that butter and oil away!

Vasilopita – St. Basil’s bread

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 12

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup low fat milk
2 eggs
4 egg whites
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¾ cup crushed almonds
1 large orange (need both the juice & the zest)
25 whole blanched almonds (optional)
1 quarter (or gold coin) wrapped in foil
Icing sugar

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Mix sugar, butter, applesauce egg yolks in a medium bowl and beat until mixture becomes fluffy
2. Pour milk into a small saucepan and place over low heat until warm. Mix in the orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla. Once well blended, pour into the medium bowl that is holding the egg mixture.
3. Add beaten egg whites and slowly mix in the baking powder, flour and crushed almonds. Blend until the dough is very thick.
4. Pour mixture into a greased and floured round cake pan. Then mix in the foil-wrapped coin and ensure that it is not visible.
5. You can leave the cake plain and decorate after you bake it or you can opt to top it with the blanched almonds. If so, take the whole almonds and write out the New Year, 2009, on top of the cake mixture. Place into oven for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean.
6. Once you take the cake out of the oven quickly dust with the icing sugar add any other festive touches and let cool.

Kali Orexi & Hronia Polla!