New Year Cake

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Butter and flour an 11¼-inch springform cake pan. Rinse the coin, dry it well and wrap it tightly in aluminum foil. Sift the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together into a bowl.

3. Whip the butter and sugar together with handheld beaters in a large bowl until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking each one in well. Beat in the vanilla and the orange and lemon zests.

4. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the brandy and the milk, then fold in the almonds. Scrape into the pan. Drop in the coin now, trying to keep it upright, not flat. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire cake rack to cool completely.

5. Put a doily on top of the cake and dust with confectioners’ sugar before removing it to reveal a lacy pattern. You can also cut a stencil of the numbers of the new year you are in (e.g., 2011) and dust that. Cut a piece for everybody and serve.