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Chocolate Vassilopita

Chocolate Vassilopita

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This delicious Chocolate Vassilopita, is moist, buttery, nutty and is great for all occasions.  It is a simple coffee cake whichy is easy to make and tastes amazing!

This is my first post for 2018 and as always, I want to start with a sweet recipe with the wish that at the end of the year, you year will be filled with sweet memories.

Wishing you  and yours A Happy New Year with the hope that you will have many blessings in the year to come.

How to make the Chocolate Vassilopita

I turned this coffee cake into a Vassilopita.  It is not the traditional one but then there are so many variations, why not make another one?

Vassilopita tradition is to place a coin in the cake as a token of luck to the person who finds it in their piece.  When the year changes, the Vassilopita is cut by the head of the house.  Read more about the traditional cake.

This cake was made with roasted blanched almonds, flavoured with rasperry essence and with finely chopped white chocolate inside. 

I also added some prickly pear liqueur, made with pomace, which my son brought from Amorgos island, but you can add any liqueur you like.

Prickly Pear Liqueur image

If you are wondering what kind of liqueur to use in order to substitute the one I used, I would suggest any citrus based liqueur, (Lemon (limoncello),  Mandarin, Orange, Bergamot), or Cinnamon, Chocolate or Ginger.

The white chocolate is not visible inside because it melts during baking, but it adds lots of flavour and it also makes the cake super moist.

coffee cake with ganache image

I added a chocolate ganache on top, which had two kinds of chocolates in it, one was couverture chocoate and the other milk chocolate. 

I also added a few drops of raspberry essence in it as well as some of my gourmet peppermint salt and finely grated black pepper. 

The addition of coarse sea salt and pepper makes the chocolate glaze divine and brings it up to a new level. 

However, if you don’t have an aromatic sea salt, you can just add any coarse sea salt you like.

Chocolate almond cake vassilopita image

The ganache is optional for this cake because the cake can stand alone without it but I highly recommend it.  We love chocolate and it pairs well with raspberries.

I made more ganache than I needed because I wanted to use the leftover ganache to make a Black lava Orange Gateau with leftover kourabiedes, melomakarona and gingerbread cookies, so just make half the dose.

Almond raspberry coffee cake cut image

I must say this was the best coffee cake I ever eaten and it dissappeared in no time.

Try it.  You will not be disappointed!

You can watch the video for more details:

coffee cake with ganache cut image

Chocolate Almond Raspberry Coffee Cake (Vassilopita)

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

This delicious Chocolate Almond Raspberry Coffee Cake is moist, buttery, nutty and is great for all occasions  It is simple and easy to make and tastes amazing!

Ingredients

  • 285 grams blanched and toasted almonds, pulverized
  • 100 grams all-purpose flour
  • 15 grams corn flour (starch)
  • ½ tsp sea salt with peppermint
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 5 large eggs (300 grams), separated
  • 250 grams granulated sugar
  • 185 grams unsalted butter + 15 grams to brush the baking tin
  • 10 drops raspberry extract
  • Additional ingredients:
  • 50 ml Amorgos Prickly pear liqueur*
  • 80 grams white chocolate

Chocolate ganache: (half amount)

  • 200 grams couverture
  • 100 grams milk chocolate
  • 125 ml heavy cream
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 3 - 4 drops raspberry essence
  • 1/2 tsp coarse gourmet peppermint sea salt
  • Finely grated black pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180o C / 350o F.
  2. Blanch the almonds.
  3. While the oven is preheating toast the almonds until lightly brown Remove from the oven and set aside to cool 
  4. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, corn flour, sea salt, baking soda and lemon zest).
  5. Pulverize the almonds in a food processor, adding some of the dry ingredients.
  6. Wash a coin, wipe it and wrap it in aluminium foil.
  7. Line a 25.5 cm (10 inch) cake pan with parchment paper and grease the paper and the sides of the pan with some butter.
  8. Using a hand mixer, whisk the egg whites with lemon juice until the egg whites become stiff.
  9. Using a stand mixer, on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, for about ten minutes.
  10. Add the egg yolks and mix to combine.
  11. Pour in the liqueur and raspberry essence and continue mixing.
  12. Occasionally, scrape the sides of your mixing bowl, using a rubber spatula.
  13. Finaly, add the almonds and chocolate and mix.
  14. Turn off the mixer and using a spatula, gently gradually fold in the meringue, alternating with some of the flour mixture, until all is incorporated.
  15. Empty half the batter into the cake pan and put the coin in 
  16. Add the remaining batter on top.
  17. Tap the pan on the counter so that the batter is evenly distributed and break any air bubbles.
  18. Bake in the middle level of the oven for about 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  19. Remove pan to a rack and let it cool.
  20. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, and reverse cake to remove the parchment paper Turn it back on the other side as the coin will be on the bottom of the cake.
  21. In a double boiler melt the chocolate.
  22. Add the ganache on top, helping it drip to the sides.
  23. Decorate with raspberries and some icing sugar sprinkled on top.

Notes

*In case you are wondering what kind of liqueur to use in order to substitute the one I used, I would suggest any citrus based liqueur (Lemon (limoncello), Orange, Mandarin, Bergamot), or Cinnamon, Chocolate or Ginger.

Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 431Total Fat 24gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 96mgSodium 369mgCarbohydrates 45gFiber 4gSugar 32gProtein 10g

"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

Vassilopita Recipes

There are two types of Vassilopita. One is a cake type and the other a brioche (Tsoureki type). You can use either one.

Here are some more Vassilopitas to choose from!

Collage Almond raspberry coffee cake image

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!

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