Vassilopita with phyllo pastry, sesame and spices - Traditional New Year's pie

A different version of the New Year's cake which patiently waits to be cut when the clock strikes midnight! I have told you about the significance and the story (or legend if you like) behind the tradition of the Saint Basil's cake which we have on New Year's day in Greece and I have given you a few interesting and tasty recipes to try out. Today we have something totally different than the classic (or less classic) recipes. It is a traditional one that can be found in various areas in North Greece, especially from the Thrace region. It is a nice idea to have something out of the ordinary this Year and to get to know recipes from different regions of the country. As always, don't forget to put in a coin so to give good luck to the one who will have the right piece of the pie!

Slightly adapted from "Cook book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 6-8 people):

For the pie:
500gr. of phyllo pastry sheets
500gr. of sesame seeds
1 tea-cup of sesame oil (or other oil or butter)
1 tbsp of ground cinnamon
½ tsp of ground cloves
½ tbsp of very fine breadcrumbs
extra sesame seeds to sprinkle (un-toasted)
a bit of margarine to brush the pan

For the syrup:
2 tea-cups of granulated sugar
2 tea-cups of water
1 tea-cup of honey
2 tbsp of brandy or cognac

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170°C and brush well with the margarine the bottom and the sides of an oven pan of 30cm diameter.

Put the sesame seeds in a large non-stick frying pan and toast it on medium heat until it gets nicely coloured, constantly stirring with a wooden spatula so it won't burn.

Take off the heat and leave aside to cool and when it is ready add in the pan the spices, the breadcrumbs and stir with a spoon.

Lay two phyllo sheets at the bottom of the pan allowing some of the edges to hang over the rim. Sprinkle on top with some of the sesame mixture. Lay another sheet and sprinkle again with some of the mixture.

Continue in the same way until the phyllo sheets and the filling are used up. Finish the pie laying on top 3 sheets, without any mixture in between. Bring the edges of the pastry inwards twisting all around so to form a border (see photo on top).

Put in a saucepan the sesame oil and warm it up until it is very hot, but not fuming. With a sharp knife score the pie into pieces all way down to the bottom of the pan. Pour over with the hot oil and sprinkle on top with the raw sesame seeds.

Put in the oven and initially bake for 15 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 130°C and continue cooking for another 30-35 minutes or until the pie is nicely golden and the phyllo crunchy.

In the meantime, put the syrup ingredients in a saucepan and boil for about 10 minutes on medium heat (counting from the moment it will come to the boil).

While the pie is hot pour over with the hot syrup and leave the pie to rest for a few hours and absorb the syrup before you serve.

Note:
Those of you who are familiar to the Greek way of preparing sweet and savoury pies maybe you've noticed (and got surprised) that in this case we don't brush the pastry sheets at all with butter (or oil) in between layers. The reason is because it is not needed since we use the oil to pour over the pie just before it goes in the oven. In this way the oil finds its way through all the sheets after scoring the pie all the way down. If we had also greased the sheets then the pie would be smothered with too much fat.... This is a traditional way of handling some pies and actually this is how my grandmother used to do her Christmas baklava.