Vasilopitta

It is New Year's Eve today, so I decided to try making Vasilopitta (Saint Basil cake) for the first time. This is my aunt's traditional recipe.

Ingredients
190 g butter or vegetable substitute
220 g sugar
4 large eggs
Zest from 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 cup fresh orange juice
360 g plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
Blanched almonds or almond flakes for decoration


Directions
Cut the butter in cubes and leave out of the fridge until it's at room temperature or microwave it for a few seconds until it's soft. In a large bowl, mix the butter with the sugar using a mixer with dough hooks until the mixture is uniform.

Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Using regular mixer beaters, beat the egg whites until you get soft peaks. Separately, beat the egg yolks to get a smooth mixture.

Mix the flour with the baking powder, and sieve into a separate bowl.

All the ingredients should now be ready to be added to the butter and sugar mixture. As you slowly add the ingredients to the mix, keep beating using the dough hooks to maintain a uniform mixture. First, add the zest and the egg yolks. Start adding the flour slowly, alternating with some of the orange juice, and continue beating to mix well.

When all the flour and orange juice have been added, gently mix in the egg whites using a large spoon. Don't use the mixer for this because it will release the air that you want to keep trapped in the egg whites.

Pour the mixture into a greased baking tin. Use the almonds to decorate, and put in the centre of the oven, heated to about 445 K (175 degrees C), for 40 minutes. To test if it's done, insert a clean knife or toothpick into the centre. If they come out clean, the cake should be done. Allow it to cool down before removing from the tin.