Greek New Year cake
Description
In Greece there is a New Year and Christmas tradition like this, which can basically be adopted by us as well. On Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, the host always bakes a special New Year’s cake in honor of Saint Basil—the saint regarded as the founder of the Greek Orthodox Church. The cake itself is fairly standard and ordinary by the recipe (though tasty—there’s no denying that), but the main twist is this: the baker hides a coin in the pie, and whoever finds it will be especially lucky in the coming year. A lovely tradition, don’t you think?:) The bake is ready. Serve it at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
First soak the almonds in boiled water for a couple of minutes, remove the skins from the almonds, dry them in a dry skillet, and grind them into crumbs using a grinder or blender.
- 2
Step 2
Mix the flour with the baking powder.
- 3
Step 3
In another bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar, and egg yolks. Beat these ingredients well with a mixer—you need to beat them for about 10 minutes, no less. Otherwise the cake will not turn out tender.
- 4
Step 4
Pour into the sugar mixture the juice of one orange and cognac, plus a little grated orange zest. Beat for another couple of minutes until smooth.
- 5
Step 5
Then fold the almond meal into the liquid mixture first, then the flour and baking powder.
- 6
Step 6
Using a mixer on low speed, beat the egg whites until they form a white, stable foam (this will take about 5 minutes). Then gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
- 7
Step 7
Transfer the dough into a baking dish. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes. Check doneness with a toothpick — if it’s dry, the pie is ready.
- 8
Step 8
Cool the pie and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Before serving, make a small, inconspicuous slit somewhere on the lower part of the cake and slip a foil-wrapped coin inside.
- 9
Step 9
:)