Vasilopita literally translates to “King Cake”. It is however, a New Year’s Day tradition in the Greek culture, not tied to lent. It honors Saint Vasilios (aka St. Basil) who is honored on January 1st. The cake is made with oranges, a winter fruit, and in it, one bakes a coin wrapped in foil. As you cut the cake on New Year’s Day, you cut a piece for the home, and one for each member of the family. Whoever finds the coin has good luck for the year. I end up finding the coin most years in my household as there are only two humans and I’m the only one who eats enough cake to keep cutting slices. It’s really delicious dunked in coffee. My mother has made many variations over the years, but my favorite is this one on Food52. The only change I make is I use one cup of sugar instead of two as it doesn’t need to be so sweet.
