Vasilopita Greek New Years Cake Sweetbread

Vasilopita is a greek sweetbread cake that is traditionally made the night before and served on new years day in Greece. The sweetbread is flavored with cinnamon, and orange zest giving it a light citrusy flavor. It’s often flavored with mastic gum as well, a natural gum collected from the mastic trees on the island of Chios, which lends a wonderful and unique flavor to this delicious sweetbread. 

The vasilopita cake is baked with a coin hidden within it. When the cake is cut and served on new years day whoever gets the slice with the coin in it is said to have good luck for the year! It’s a wonderful and fun tradition. 

There are many legends regarding the history of this tradition. One is that St.Basil wanted to allow people their dignity when he was giving charity to the poor  so he baked bread with coins hidden within the loaves and then gifted the bread. 

New years is not the only time this delicious sweetbread is made in Greece. It’s also baked on easter ,minus the lucky coin, and throughout the year as a simple braided sweetbread which is called tsoureki. 

Fairly easy to make at home yourself this wonderful sweetbread is a wonderful addition to your table any time of the year. For the full recipe and an easy to follow walk through on it check out the video posted below. 
 

Coconut Custard Pie Recipe

 Coconut custard pie, one of my favorite pies! Let me start by saying that aside from being delicious coconut custard pies are very easy to make! They come together so quickly, the hardest part is waiting for them to cool off enough to eat! Added bonus, baking one will fill your home with the delightful aroma of toasted coconut.  You can make your own pie crust as I do or use store bought, either way this pie will come out so good!

The ingredients needed are for the pie crust are simple, I rcomend making your own. They’re really easy to make and well worth the effort of learning to make.

The custard filling in this pie is super easy and only takes a few minutes to make, a pretty fool proof recipe!

Baking time is about 20 to 25 minutes at 325 degrees farenheit. Let cool thoroughly and enjoy!

For the full recipe and easy instructions watch the video below.

Italian Rainbow Cookies Recipe

 Italian Rainbow cookies have always been one of my favorite cookies to bake during the holiday season. I love these little cookies anytime of the year, but during the holidays they really shine as they’re so festive looking! Italian rainbow cookies aka Venetian cookies, or tri color cookies consist of thin layers of almond cake between layers of apricot jam and then covered with chocolate. The result is an amazing fragrant and  delicious cookie.

We used to get these at italian bakeries in New York and they were so amazing! The very best ones of course are those baked by italian grandmas who will bake these for you on holidays or as a special treat every once in awhile! 

These delicious bite sized cookies are fairly easy to make, and while they may be a little involved they are well worth the effort. They are really more of a cake than a cookie which is then cut into individual cookies. So making these only  entails  making one batter which is  divided into three portions and then adding food color to achieve that tri color effect. The red, white and green are meant to symbolize the colors of the italian flag. You can omit the colors if you like these cookies are just as delicious with or without or you can use different colors for other occasions.

To get my full recipe and easy to follow instructions on making these watch the video below. I also show you the trick on how to cut them without cracking the chocolate topping. 

Brownies Recipe Best Easy Fudgy Brownie

Over the years I’ve developed several different brownie recipes. This one is one of my favorites though. It’s super easy to make and the recipe yields a wonderful fudgy brownie. Perfect for those moments when you want a quick snack or dessert. A few minutes, a few simple ingredients and one bowl is all you need to make these wonderful fudgy brownies. Keep this recipe on hand, jot it down on a recipe card  or bookmark this page, as these brownies are so easy to make this recipe comes in handy on many occassions. For the full recipe and easy to follow instructions check out the video posted below.

 

Butter Cookies | Super Simple

 

I love butter cookies. That rich melt in your mouth buttery flavor just delights me! Just a basic cookie and yet they can be so good! I also love the fact that they are so easy to make, just  a few simple ingredients and you can get an amazing butter cookie. I created this recipe for them years ago after trying out a few recipes that didn’t quite pan out for me. 😀 This butter cookie recipe yields an amazing and flavorful butter cookie. The dough is extremely versatile and easy to work with. They can be piped out of a pastry bag onto your baking sheet or rolled out and cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters. They make a great treat anytime of the year but they also make a great holiday cookie as they are easily decorated, either by sprinkling a little sugar on top prior to baking for a little extra sparkle, or icing them after baking. For the full recipe and easy to follow directions check out the video below.

Layer Cake|Ginger Cake Recipe

 I wanted a layer cake that would be moist, rich and flavorful. Easy to make was also high on my priority list. This is the recipe I created one night in a moment of inspiration while reflecting on some of my older holiday recipes. I tested it out the next morning and I was not disappointed! It makes for a great anytime treat and also works well as a holiday dessert. Four golden, rich delicious layers of almond cake infused with ginger syrup and nestled between an incredible fresh ginger cream. The flavors and textures in this layer cake come together beautifully, creating a taste experience you won’t want to miss out on!

Apple Pie Recipe Tasty And Easy

 

Making this tasty apple pie will delight you with it’s fantastic aroma and incredible flavor. A hint of ginger cinnamon, and a buttery flaky crust with a lattice top all come together and create a superb apple pie. This apple pie recipe is easy to make and fairly simple as far as pies go, and you will just love it’s textures and flavors! 

 

Hummus Recipe | Simple | Super Tasty

Hummus is a popular  dip made from chickpeas. It’s origins stem from the Middle East. Traditionally it is made by combining chickpeas, lemon,garlic and tahini, a sesame seed paste.

 

The result, a smooth, creamy and very tasty dip that is also a super healthy treat. Chickpeas are high in protein and vitan B6 while the rest of the ingredients offer a variety of health benefits as well. Hummus can be made at home easily and your fresh homemade version will be far tastier than store bought. Check out the video  posted above for quick a and easy classic hummus recipe. This savory dip goes well with pita bread wedges,crackers, veggies and can even be added to cookies or cake for an extra special treat!

Candied/Crystallized Ginger Recipe

How to make candied/crystallized ginger candy simply and easily. Candied ginger is a tasty treat on it’s own. It also has many other uses as it can be added to cookies, cakes , pastries etc... It’s really easy to make this candied ginger so don’t miss out on this tasty treat, try this recipe!  

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sliced ginger

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of water

1/4 teaspoon salt

extra sugar for dipping

Bagels | New York Style Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of water

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

4 to 5 cups of flour

1 tablesppon of malt syrup or honey

Chocolate Caramel Peanut Clusters | Super Easy Recipe

Rich dark chocolate, luscious caramel and peanuts all combined into one scrumptious cluster. These chocolate caramel peanut clusters are super yummy and so easy to make! I hope you enjoy this recipe, if you’re a chocolate lover it’s a must try! If you give this recipe a try let me know about it in the comments below I’d love to hear about it!

Ingredients

1 8 oz bar of dark chocolate

2 cups of caramel

1 cup of peanuts

yields approximately 18 to 25 clusters depending on the size of your cluster