New Year’s cake (Vassilopita) 

Ingredients:

500 g. all-purpose flour

1 cup baking powder

250 g. butter

150 g. sugar (add more or less depending how sweet you want the cake)

1 vanilla

4 eggs

1 large orange, zest and juice

250 ml milk

180 g. walnuts, coarsely chopped

Icing sugar, for sprinkling

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.

In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder and vanilla. Put the mixture to the side.

Place your sugar and butter in a mixer and beat until fluffy. Simultaneously, add one egg at a time, followed by your juice, milk and the flour. Finally, add the walnuts.

Next, take a round baking pan with a diameter of about 25 cm, butter it and sprinkle some flour.  Then pour your cake mix inside. Place the pan in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until you can insert a knife into the center of the cake and comes out clean.

Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven, let it cool down, place it on a platter, and finally sprinkle with sugar.

Melomakarona

Ingredients:

 3 (tea) cups of oil

1/2 cup orange juice

Sprinkle of salt

1 (tea) cup sugar

9 cups all-purpose flour

100 ml brandy (or to taste)

2 tsp baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

100 g. walnuts

1 tbsp. ground cloves and cinnamon

Zest from 3 oranges

For the syrup

2 (tea) cups sugar

1 cup water

3 cups honey

1 cinnamon stick

1 lemon slice

Method:

Pour your oil, orange juice, brandy and soda into a deep pan and whisk to combine. Add the cinnamon and clove mix, walnuts, orange zest, sugar and salt and continue to stir. Next, add the flour and knead by hand. (Caution: do not knead for too long as the melomakarona will become rubbery). When the dough is ready, mold the melomakarona into small oval shapes. Bake at 180C in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

For the syrup

In a large pot boil your water, sugar, honey, cinnamon stick and lemon slice. Boil for 3-5 minutes.

Once the melomakarona have cooled, place them in the hot syrup for 1 minute. Then remove them and let them drain on a rack. In a bowl, pour in some honey and chopped nuts and place your melomakarona inside so that the bottom gets coated.  Add some honey and nuts on top as well.  Repeat for each layer.

Kourambiedes

Ingredients:

1 box of Spry (500 g.)

2 tbsps. orange juice

2 egg yolks

1 vanilla

1 cup coffee, cognac

1 cup powdered sugar

8 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 cups almonds, blanched, toasted and coarsely chopped

1 tsp soda

Rosewater

500 g. icing sugar (for sprinkling)

Method:

Into the mixer, add the spry and sugar and mix until fluffy. Then, reduce the speed and add the egg yolks one by one.

Next, mix your soda, brandy and orange juice in a glass and then pour into the mixture and stir for 2-3 minutes.

In a bowl mix the flour, vanilla and baking powder.

In the meantime, stop the mixer and add the dough hook tool. Slowly fill the bowl with flour and knead by hand. The dough should be soft and not stick to the hands. Finally, add the almonds and knead lightly so that they get dispersed throughout the dough.

Then mold your dough into the shapes you want (e.g. oval, cookies, horseshoe shape) and place them in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 180C for 30 minutes.

Then remove the biscuits from the oven and let them cool. Sprinkle them with a little rose water and sift powdered sugar on top. Leave a little for the end.  Next, place them on wax paper until completely cool, then put them on a platter. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top again.

Foinikota

The cooking method for these authentic Cyprus Christmas sweets is the same as the shortbread biscuits but without the almonds. 

Ingredients: 

Spry 1 box (500 g.)

2 tbsp. orange juice

2 egg yolks

1 vanilla

1 cup coffee, cognac

1 cup powdered sugar

8 cups flour GOC

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp soda

500 g. dates, chopped

1 ½ cups almonds, chopped and toasted

5 tbsp. granulated sugar

¼ tsp crushed cloves

½ tsp cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons rosewater

500 g. icing sugar (for sprinkling)

Method:

In a small saucepan, heat the butter, palm trees, almonds, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Boil until butter melts. Lower heat and continue stirring until it forms a smooth mixture and mix all the ingredients well.

Next, add the rosewater, mix a couple of times and remove from heat. Allow the filling to cool and get the dough ready.                                                                                                                                                                         

Now, add the spry and sugar into the mixer bowl and blend until fluffy.  Reduce the speed, and add the egg yolks one by one.  Then mix the soda, brandy and orange juice in a glass, pour into the mixture and stir for 2-3 minutes.

Next, in a bowl mix the flour, vanilla and baking powder.

Meanwhile, stop the mixer and add the dough hook part. Knead the dough by hand until its soft and not sticking to your hands.

At this point, we take a little piece of dough and flatten it.  Then make a ball from the filling, place it in the center of the dough and close. Then sit the foinikota in a horseshoe shape on a pan lined with parchment paper.  Do this until you’ve finished all the dough.  Then bake at 180C for 30 minutes.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and let them cool. Sprinkle with a little rose water and sift powdered sugar on top. Leave a little for the end.

Place them on wax paper until completely cool and then put them on a platter. Re-sprinkle with powdered sugar on top