Vasilopita is New Year’s Day bread, which contains a hidden coin giving good luck to the receiver. This bread recipe without the coin can also be used for Tsoureki or Pascha (Easter) Bread, which is shaped like a giant twisted koulouraki with red eggs pushed into the criss-cross of the loaf before baked on a cookie sheet.
Ingredients
2 squares yeast or
3 packets of dry yeast
1 lb. butter
I tsp. vanilla
4 eggs, separated for dough
2 eggs, separated for crust
raw sesame seeds
1 qt. warm milk
1 tsp. salt
5 lbs. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. mastiha, crushed
1 Tbsp. coriander, crushed
5 nine-inch glass pie plates
Cooking Instructions
Dissolve yeast in 1 cup of warm water. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolks together. Combine two mixtures in a very large pan or mixing bowl. (See Note #2) Add warm milk. Combine egg whites and salt in small bowl and beat until fluffy. Add to mixture in large bowl. Sift flour into large bowl, gradually, mixing thoroughly by hand. Combine mastiha and coriander; add. Knead dough until it doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl. This will take a while. Resist adding more flour to hasten the process. When the dough does not stick to hands or bowl cover the bowl with a clean dish towel. Let it rise for 3-4 hours. To rise properly bundle up the covered bowl of dough in a heavy blanket and place in a warm room. The first rising will be tallest and should be allowed the longest time to do so. Then unwrap the bowl, brush the dough with butter. Knead the dough very vigorously to release the air bubbles. Rewrap the bowl and keep warm. Repeat for 3 risings. Wash 5 coins and wrap in foil. Cut the dough into 5 equal portions. Insert one coin into each dough portion and place the dough into a pie plate. Brush the tops of the loaves with a mixture of 2 egg yolks and 1 Tbsp. of water, then sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees.
Note #1: Glass pie plates make the bottom of the loaves visible to check for a golden brown color. When done the top of the loaf should give slightly under pressure.
Note #2: Using a blue-speckled pot for boiling canning jars works well for 5 lbs. of flour. The tall sides keep the dough contained as it rises. A good job of kneading will make the dough rise very high.
