This recipe was given by my friend Kaiti, who together with her daughter Eleni run Villa Iokasti in Koutouloufari, Crete and it was originally used by Kaiti’s mum Marika Douloufaki who used to make it for New Year’s Eve and serve as the traditional Vassilopita containing the lucky coin for the year ahead. I love this recipe over the traditional cake/bread made in households and sold in patisseries throughout Greece which I find a little too dry.
I love how recipes travel in time and place. I converted the commonly used ‘glass’ measurements to metric and slightly changed the quantities shown on the little note that came from Crete. I always marvel at how instructions were hardly passed down as women were ‘meant’ to know the basics from watching their grandmothers and mothers.
If you are making this cake in Greece, you know the little vanilla powder phials I list below but if you only have extract or paste, just add that to the liquids in the recipe.
INGREDIENTS
- 450g plain flour and extra for dusting
- 75g walnuts, roughly chopped
- 450g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 250g soft unsalted butter and extra for greasing
- 250ml full fat milk
- 20g baking powder
- Zest of 2 oranges
- 50ml brandy
- 2 phials of vanilla sugar or 1 tbsp vanilla extract
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Grease a cake tin with a loose bottom measuring 30cm. Cover the base with a piece of baking parchment. Grease the paper and cake tin surround and dust with flour.
In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat between additions. Add the brandy, milk, zest and vanilla and stir.
Take 1 tbsp of the flour and add to the chopped walnuts to dust them so they spread evenly in the cake. Add the walnuts to the bowl with the wet ingredients and the flour. Mix well and empty into the lined cake tin.
Bake in the oven for 60-75 minutes or until a skewer dipped into the middle of it comes out clean.
You may serve the cake just dusted with icing sugar, an orange glaze or even candied orange pieces and syrup as I did with mine.
