Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year without a question! And there is no better way to get into the festive mood than tasting some traditional Christmas sweets! Here are three of the most popular Christmas sweets in Greece which you can find in every household throughout the country!
MELOMAKARONA
In my opinion melomakarona is the top Christmas treat! They are cookies made with olive oil and ground spices like cinnamon, clove and nutmeg that give them their special Christmas flavor and smell. After being baked, they are dept into honey syrup and grated walnuts are added on the top. Some people add grated walnuts in the cookie dough for extra flavor. If you are a chocoholic you can try chocolate covered melomakarona which are not so traditional but as tasty as the originals!
KOURABIEDES
Kourabiedes are shortbread type biscuits with almonds. If you want your kourabiedes to be a success you need to pay attention when buying the butter that you will use for making them, as it needs to be of top quality. Traditionally rose water is added into the dough for flavor, but vanilla or mastic may also be used instead of rose water. The kourabiedes dough is usually shaped into circles, small balls or crescents. After baking them a lot of powdered sugar is being sprinkled over the biscuits. That’s why it is always too difficult to enjoy a kourabie without having powdered sugar on your clothes or everywhere around you!
VASILOPITA
While melomakarona and kourabiedes are made any time during the Christmas season, Vasilopita is a special cake made not before the New Year’s Eve. Although there are many different recipes for the dough of this sweet, it is always covered with powdered sugar and the number of the New Year is written on the top. A gold coin is added into each cake before it goes in the oven. No one knows in which piece the coin is going to end up! The highlight in every Greek house after the arrival of the New Year is the cut of the Vasilopita! The person that finds the gold coin is believed to be lucky all year around!