A delicious and fun Greek tradition!

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Every year I bring you a different version of vasilopita that I love, and this year it’s almond vasilopita cake. It’s a Greek lucky New Year’s cake, also known as St. Basil’s cake, with a coin baked inside. It’s traditionally served on New Year’s Eve, and whoever finds the coin is sure to have luck the entire new year. This almond version is one of my favorites because the almond adds a little bit of heartiness to the soft cake, it’s not too sweet, and the cardamom and orange flavors put it over the top. You’re going to love it!
Why you’ll make this all year
Hint of cardamom
Fresh orange
Nutty almond
Crunch of almond slivers
Soft and light cake
A beautiful, soft, almond-flavored cake full of Greek tradition and fun!

Pulling everything together
The Wet Ingredients:
- Unsalted butter -softened
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Pure vanilla extract -good
- Almond extract -this has a strong flavor, so I wouldn’t use more
- Large eggs -room temperature
- Plain yogurt -room temperature
The Dry Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Almond flour -this adds heartiness to the cake
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Zest of an orange -this adds so much freshness
- Salt
- Ground cardamom seeds or ground mastiha
- Almond slices
- A coin wrapped in foil
- Confectioner’s sugar for decoration

Swapping cardamom for traditional flavor
If you prefer more traditional vasilopita flavors, swap out the cardamom for mastiha/mastic gum. You can grind the mastic in a grinder, food processor, or with a mortar and pestle. Then, add a quarter teaspoon to the dry ingredients. I don’t recommend using more because mastic will come across as bitter if you use too much. Let me know which you prefer!

How to make Almond Vasilopita Cake: Greek Lucky New Year’s Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F, 180 °C.
- Line a 10-inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray the inside with pan spray or brush with melted butter.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract on low speed until combined.
- Increase the speed to high and beat until thick, pale, and fluffy -about 3 minutes.
- Beat the eggs into the butter mixture one at a time until fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat until smooth.
- Add the yogurt and beat on high speed until incorporated.
- Whisk together the flour, almond meal, salt, baking powder, cardamom, orange zest, and almond slices until combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the mixer in a few batches until just incorporated.
- Then, pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
- Insert the foil-wrapped coin into the batter.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with some crumbs attached.
- Run a knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan and set it aside to cool completely.
- Invert the cake onto a cake platter and remove the parchment paper.
- Flip the cake back over and dust it with lots of confectioner’s sugar.

Decorate and Serve
The traditional way to decorate this cake is with lots of confectioner’s sugar. To add interest and beauty to it, I like to place a lace stencil on the top of the cake before dusting it with confectioner’s sugar. It creates a beautifully embroidered design. You can also top the cake with the following year’s numbers, fruit, curd, preserves, or anything else you prefer. Though no matter how you decorate it, it pairs perfectly with tea and coffee. So, be sure to have those hot and ready. Enjoy! Kali Orexi!
More Vasilopita Recipes:

Almond Vasilopita Cake: Greek Lucky New Year's Cake
Ingredients
The Wet Ingredients:
- 3/4 pound unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 5 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature
The Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (100g) almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- zest of an orange
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds or ground mastiha
- 1/2 cup almond slices
- a coin wrapped in foil
- confectioner's sugar for decoration
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 °F, 180 °C.
Line a 10-inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray the inside with pan spray or brush with melted butter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer that has been fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to high and beat until thick, pale, and fluffy. About 3 minutes.
Beat the eggs into the butter mixture one at a time until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat until smooth.
Add the yogurt and beat on high speed until incorporated.
Combine the flour, almond meal, salt, baking powder, cardamom,orange zest, and almond slices. Whisk together until combined.
Add the flour mixture to the mixer in a few batches until just incorporated.
Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pan. Insert the foil-wrapped coin into the batter.
Bake in the center rack of the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes. It is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with some crumbs attached.
Run a knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan and set it aside to cool completely.
Invert the cake onto a cake platter and remove the parchment paper. Flip the cake back around and dust with lots of confectioner's sugar.
Serve with tea or coffee. Enjoy!
Notes
Place a lace stencil over the cake and then dust the top with confectioner's sugar for an embroidered design.
Top the cake with the following year's numbers, fruit, or your favorite decorations.
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Hi! Can all purpose flour be used instead of almond? Thank you! I love your content! Happy New Year 🥂
Georgia
can u use oil instead of butter n how much
Hi Dimitra,
In the dry ingredients, you wrote: 2 cups flour or 250 gr. One cup is about 250 gr. Could you please clarify how many grams are in total?
Another question is: Instead of almond flour can I grind almonds in a blender? If yes, is the total g. of flour stay the same?
Thank you ,
Kassie
Many wishes for a prosperous new year!!
Hi Kassie! Happy New Year to you as well! The gram measurement for the 2 cups of flour is correct: 250g. Of course it could be a few grams more or less (+/-20g) and the recipe will still work out. I’ve never tried grinding the almonds before but I think that it should work if you can get them to an almond flour consistency without turning them into almond butter… I’d love to hear how the recipe turns out for you. And, yes, the total grams of the ground almonds stays the same 🙂
Thank you Dimitra! Your Vasilopita was a great hit and just as you described, moist and delicious! I love your recipes and videos. Continue to provide us with great recipes that are easy to follow. ❤️
Happy New Year 2023! Χρόνια Πολλά!