How to Make Greek New Years Cake

Called Vasilopita greek new years cake is a sweetbread cake with a light touch of citrus, and a hint of cinnamon. Often it is flavored with mastic a fragrant natural greek gum gathered from mastic trees on the island of Chios. 

A coin is baked within the cake and when the cake is served on new years day whoever gets the coin is said to have good luck for the year! The are many legends about the origins of the cake’s tradition. One of them is that Saint Basil wanted to allow the poor their dignity when giving out charity so he baked coins into loaves of bread and then gifted the bread.

Vasilopita is also known as tsoureki. The sweetbread is baked on easter as well (minus the good luck coin) braided and decorated with colored eggs. During the year it is baked as an anytime treat as a simple braided sweetbread. This delicious sweetbread is fairly easy to make. For the full recipe and easy to follow walk through check out the video posted above.