Vasilopita 2017, Greek New Year's Lucky Cake

This New Year Lucky Cake, Vasilopita 2017, it is a delicious cake with special ingredients. It contains dried figs puree, dark rum and orange zest: these ingredients give to cake a special taste and texture.

Because figs are sweet, no need to add too much sugar.

Ingredients

15 dried figs, chopped and soaked in rum

50ml dark rum

500grams self raising flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder

⅓ tsp salt

200ml extra virgin olive oil

250ml fresh milk, full fat

150grams soft brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tablespoons orange zest

Suggested Decoration

Ganache Frosting

17 colorful paper banners

Colorful small candies

2 tablespoons grated coconut

Instructions

Cut figs, put into a bowl into, add rum and cover with plastic wrap.

Let stand for one hour. Then blend.

Butter a round cake form (of 28-30 cm diameter). Lay base with greased baking paper. Butter and flour all sides of cake form. 

Sift flour and mix with salt and baking powder.

Beat in mixer bowl sugar the eggs, until thick cream. Continuing beating and add, little by little, the olive oil. 

Reduce speed and add the zest and figs.

Continue alternately adding milk and flour. 

Stop the mixer and mix ingredients gently with a spatula.

Pour cake mixture into the prepared form and flatten the surface.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160º C in air for about one hour. Before remove cake from the oven, check with a knife, if baked well.

When baked, put cake on a wire base and let it cool.

When cool enough insert a lucky coin into the cake and pour the Ganache over.

Decorate with caddies, small flags and sprinkle with grated coconut.

Good luck! Happy New Year!