Prepare the dry ingredients. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt into the bowl with the flour. Whisk together and set aside. Zest and juice the oranges. Set aside. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10" baking pan with a little bit of unsalted butter and a dusting of flour. You could also line the baking pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350°F on bake.

Prepare the wet ingredients. Add the softened unsalted butter and oil into a mixing bowl. Use the whisk attachment and cream the butter and oil on medium speed (#6 on a KitchenAid mixer) for 2 minutes. Turn off the mixer and use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and the whisk attachment. Turn on the mixer again to medium speed and slowly add all of the white sugar to the mixing bowl. Cream the butter, oil, and sugar together on medium speed (#6 on a KitchenAid mixer for 2 minutes). The butter and sugar will become light in colour and fluffy. Turn off the mixer and scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and the whisk attachment.

Add in the eggs. Turn the mixer on medium speed (#6 on KitchenAid mixer) and add one egg at a time. Allow the egg to incorporate into the mixture for 45-60 seconds before adding in the next egg. Repeat this process until all four eggs are added. Then add in the vanilla extract and brandy. If you add the eggs too fast, there is a risk that the emulsion never properly forms. If the eggs are too cold when added to the creamed butter and sugar, the butter will harden, little lumps will form, and the mixture will curdle. To prevent curdling, it's important not to add all the eggs at once. If the batter is curdled, then the emulsion has split. If this happens, quickly add 2-3 tablespoons of the flour mixture to the creamed butter and then continue to add in the eggs.

Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Once all of the eggs are incorporated into the butter, oil, and sugar mixture, add the orange zest to the flour mixture. Mix together. Next, we're going to alternate between the dry and wet ingredients. Lower the speed of the electric mixer to #2 on a KitchenAid mixer once you add the flour. Mix in dry, wet, dry, wet, dry, etc. Add some of the flour mixture, milk, flour, orange juice, and then flour, and repeat this process until everything is incorporated. Once you can no longer see any more flour, turn off the mixer. Use a spatula to mix the batter one final time and scrape down the whisk attachment. Pour the cake batter into the greased pan. Lightly tap the cake pan against a kitchen counter a few times and swirl the cake pan so that the batter is spread evenly and to remove any air pockets.

Bake the vasilopita. Place the cake in the second to the bottom rack of your preheated oven. Slowly close the oven door. Bake the cake for 55-60 minutes. To test if the vasilopita is done, insert a sharp knife or toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out mostly clean, then the cake is done. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for at least 25-30 minutes before transferring the cake to a cooling rack.

Clean the lucky coin. Wash a small coin with soap and pat dry. Wrap the coin tightly with tinfoil or aluminum foil. Carefully insert the coin into the bottom of the baked cake. You can use a quarter, loonie, toonie or another small coin of your choice. Try not to place the coin directly in the centre of the cake, or it may be hard to tell which slice the coin ends up in when the cake is sliced. You won't be able to tell where the coin was inserted once you flip the cake over again.

Sprinkle the vasilopita with icing sugar. Dust the top of the vasilopita with a generous amount of icing sugar. You can create a cutout stencil design with the year, write the numbers of the year with dried cranberries or chocolate chips or leave the top of the vasilopita plain with icing sugar. Traditionally, the numbers of the upcoming year are written on top of the cake.

Cut the vasilopita. The family's eldest member will usually slice the pieces of the vasilopita. Normally, the order of the cake pieces starts with God, the house, the business/work, and then the family members from oldest to youngest. If you have more space, you can add relatives or friends if they're celebrating the New Year with you. Whoever gets the lucky coin is said to have good luck for the new year!