About a week and a half ago, I wrote a post about my mother's hunt for a yeasted lemon bread recipe. It was one that a neighbor used to make to ensure a prosperous New Year and while she had gotten the recipe from that neighbor, in the intervening 35 years, it had disappeared. Lucky for us, several of you offered up recipes you thought might be similar to what we were looking for in the comments section. My mom thought that the recipe for Vasilopita (Greek New Year Cake) that Jamie posted seemed pretty darn close to what she remembered and so, a couple of days ago, she whipped up a batch.

From the pictures she sent me, it appears to have turned out very well (unfortunately she had both loaves earmarked as gifts, so she didn't actually taste it). She did alter the recipe slightly, including the add-ins she remembered being in the batches her neighbor would bake and changing the amount of flour that gets added in the beginning. The recipe that resulted from her changes in after the break.
Vasilopita
adapted from the recipe that Jamie posted in the comments section of this post

2 pks. Dry yeast
¾ cup warm milk
5 cups flour
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
grated lemon rind
½ cup melted butter
1 cup of golden raisins
1 cup of chopped toasted walnuts or pecans

Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add ½ cup of flour and beat batter until smooth. Cover and set in warm place for about an hour.

Beat eggs, salt, sugar and lemon rind. Stir mixture into batter, add remaining flour and knead, gradually adding melted butter until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise in a warm place until it has doubled its size – about 2 hours.

Knead dough adding the raisins and nuts as evenly as possible. Put in a buttered deep round baking dish about 12 inches in diameter or form two rounds and place them on a buttered cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and leave in a warm place until almost doubled.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.