Preparation time: 20 minutes

Waiting time: 3 hours

Cooking time: 80-90 minutes 

Difficulty: 6/10

Serves: 8

Ingredients – For the vasilopita

240g granulated sugar

100 ml water

100 ml fresh milk, full-fat

18g dry yeast

650g hard flour for bread

Zest of 1 orange

6 eggs

120 g butter, at room temperature

1/2 tsp mahalepi

1/4 tsp mastic

100 g black raisins

1 shot of commandaria wine or brandy

Icing sugar for dusting

Method

Pour the mastic, the mahalepi and the sugar into the mixer bucket and use the wire whisk first.

By doing so, the sugar gets flavoured.

Add water, milk and yeast to the bucket and mix.

In the meantime, soak the raisins in brandy.

Add the flour, orange zest and eggs and beat with the dough hook for 12-15 minutes until the dough becomes elastic like chewing gum.

Then, gradually add the butter in small pieces together with the raisins. Beat for 4-5 minutes until the butter is incorporated.

The mixture will become sticky and relatively liquid. Butter the inside walls of a baking dish and cover the bottom with baking paper.

Carefully pour the mixture into one or two of the baking dishes and place a coin inside.

Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside for 3 hours until it has doubled in volume.

Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan oven).

Bake for about 80-90 minutes. Check with a knife if the bread is baked well.

After finishing baking, let it cool down and dust with icing sugar.

Alphamega Hypermarkets