yeasted vasilopita

a greek new year's eve is about getting together with family and friends, playing trianta ena (the card game 31) and cutting the vasilopita or basil pie at midnight..vasilopita is a type of yeasted bread or cake with a coin baked into it and tradition has it that the person finding the coin will be blessed for the rest of the year..

vasilopita is named after basil the fourth century bishop of caesarea in cappadocia in asia minor..the tradition of baking a coin into a loaf is said to be based on the coins st basil baked into sweetened bread as a way of distributing money to the poor..he's also recognised as having been the first person to establish a children's orphanage, a christian hospital and to have been one of the most wise and compassionate clergymen in the history of the church..his feast day is observed on january 1st at the beginning of the new year and the epiphany season..the orthodox church, in recognition of his contributions to the church and to humanity, combined the new year with the birth of christ and the epiphany, into the vasilopita observance..the vasilopita observance is the midnight tradition of cutting and distributing the bread among family and friends with a piece being set aside as a symbolic gesture toward the disadvantaged in recognition of st basil's work with the poor..

yeasted vasilopita recipe 

adapted from 'flavours of greece' rosemary barron

makes 1 large loaf
enough for 20 people

ingredients sponge

225 gms tepid full cream organic unhomegenised milk

1 teaspoon yeast (tsp)

100 gms plain flour 

ingredients dough

200-300 gms plain flour

300 gms wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp crushed mastic 

1 1/2 tsp mahlepi

6 eggs

225 gms honey

140 gms castor sugar

125 gms butter melted and cooled

4 tablespoons light olive oil

1 tbs finely cut candied organic orange peel (i used homemade)

1 tbs finely cut candied organic lemon peel (i used homemade)

2 tsp salt (i used murray river salt)

ingredients glaze

1 egg

2 tsp castor sugar

2 tbs milk

extra for decorating

blanched almonds and/or sesame seeds

method sponge

~ mix yeast into the milk, leave 10 minutes, or until foaming

~ mix in the flour, cover, and leave for an hour or until it has become sponge-like

method dough

~ into the bowl of a stand mixer beat eggs, honey, sugar and salt until light and frothy

~ add 200 gms plain flour, wholemeal flour, sponge, mastic, mahlepi, butter and oil and mix adding enough of the remaining plain flour, if necessary, to make a soft smooth dough

~ remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover with greased cling film, and leave to prove for 2 hours or until doubled

~ turn the dough out onto a lightly floured bench, gently knead in the peels, and shape the dough into a round

~ place the dough in a large baking paper lined round dish and leave, loosely covered, for an hour or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression

~ mix the glaze ingredients together, brush the top of the dough, and using the almonds write the numbers of the new year and sprinkle with sesame seeds

~ bake at 190 deg c for 20-30 minutes, cover with foil, and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes or until cooked

baking notes: 

i found:

a) the dough too sweet so next time i would reduce the castor sugar to 100 or 80 gms 

b) the mastic/mahlepi ratio was unbalanced so i would reduce the mastic to 1/4 tsp and increase the mahlepi to 2 tsp

c) the bread needed a stronger citrus flavour so i'd increase the peels to 2 tbs each 

d) the dough was over hydrated (as i did when making tsoureki from the same book) so next time i would change the method and rub the butter into the flour rather than melting it thereby hopefully reducing the hydration level

e) the rising times slow so i'd consider increasing the yeast to 2 tsp (the original recipe called for 2 tbs) or retarding the dough overnight in the fridge (my preferred option)

greek coffee and vasilopita..yamas (cheers)!

kali xronia (happy new year)

tsoureki..my big fat greek buns

my family and i have developed a tradition over the years at easter of getting together on easter sunday for an informal afternoon tea..anyone who wants to join us is welcome..the more the merrier is my motto..

i can't remember when i last bought a hot cross bun because i started making them for easter years ago
but now that my children are older they come over in the morning and as part of our easter tradition we make them together..this year i decided that i'd like to include a greek element to our easter fare so i had a practice run at making tsoureki yesterday..as i said in an earlier post i've been wanting to experiment with greek recipes and ingredients and tsoureki encompasses both elements..i've wanted to make tsoureki for a long time and i never have and it often contains mastiha and mahlepi which are the very ingredients i've developed an interest in experimenting with..

i love the lamination of tsoureki and the way it tears

tsoureki

recipe adapted from 'flavours of greece' by rosemary barron

ingredients

dough

175 gms light brown sugar*
115 mls tepid water
1 sachet (7 gms) yeast 

300 gms strong flour
275-300 gms unbleached plain flour**
115 mls tepid milk
2 tbs olive oil
50 gms unsalted melted butter
5 eggs
juice of 1/2 orange
2 tbs finely grated orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 heaped tsp mastiha granules***
1/2 tsp ground mahlepi****
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 tbs sesame seeds or blanched slivered almonds*****

glaze

1 egg yolk
2 tbs milk
1 tbs honey


method

~dissolve 1 tsp of the brown sugar in the water and sprinkle over the yeast
~leave for about 10 minutes or until foam develops
~sift the strong flour into the bowl of a stand mixer and add the yeast mix and the milk
~mix on a low speed adding enough plain flour to make a soft elastic dough
~rest for 10 minutes and mix for 2 minutes
~repeat the cycle once more
~remove the bowl form the mixer and cover the bowl with cling film and leave until doubled
~while the dough is proving dry the orange zest briefly in the oven
~once dried grind the zest together with the mastiha granules with a tsp of the brown sugar
~brush a large baking tray with a little of the melted butter
~when the the dough is almost proved in another bowl beat the eggs until light and fluffy
~then add the remaining brown sugar, orange juice, vanilla, zest/mastiha mix and salt
~return the dough to the stand mixer and on a low speed add the egg mix, melted butter and remaining oil along with enough plain flour to make a soft dough..
~divide the dough into 6 portions and role each into a 20 cm rope making the ends thinner
~lay 3 ropes side by side and loosely braid tucking the thinner ends underneath so the loaf ends are rounded
~repeat with the remaining 3 ropes
~place the braided loaves well apart on the baking tray, loosely cover with cling film and leave in a warm draught free place for 2 hours or until doubled
~heat oven to 200 deg c
~for the glaze whisk egg yolk, honey and milk and brush the loaves with this mixture
~bake for 10 mins, reduce temperature to 180 deg c and cook for a further 20 minutes or until brown******
~transfer to racks to cool

notes


* tsoureki is not typically very sweet but even for my not very sweet palate it needed a bit more sugar so next time i will increase it to 200 gms (see **)
**i needed a lot more plain flour to obtain a workable dough which may have affected the sugar to flour ratio
***/****the mastiha flavour was good but it needed to be balanced with more mahlepi so i will increase the mahlepi to 1 tsp
*****i forgot to use the sesame seeds i'd planned on using
******tsoureki typically burns easily so i covered the loaves with foil after about 20 minutes of cooking


thoughts

next time i'm considering:

• adding cardamon to the spice mix
• replacing the orange juice with 2 tbs brandy
• adding some raisons or sultanas
• adding red eggs for easter

happy monday one and all..x

this post submitted to yeastspotting