Coconut Cake (Harissah)

This is the recipe for a delicious Middle Eastern coconut cake I learned how to make this year. It's delicate, sweet, and if you're like me you'll probably never want to stop eating it. Enjoy!

Sugar syrup (to be drizzled on top of the cake):

- 2 cups water

- 2 cups sugar

- 1 dash vanilla

Cake:

- 2 cups sugar

- 6 eggs

- 2 cups corn oil (vegetable oil works too)

- 1 1/2 cups milk

- 2 tablespoons baking powder

- 1 dash vanilla

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- 2 cups flour

- 4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

Boil the water, sugar and vanilla together for about 10-15 minutes depending on how thick you want it to be. After it reaches the desired consistency, set the syrup aside to cool. You'll use this at the very end to pour over the cake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease & flour an oblong pan (preferably a 9'' by 13'' pan) and set aside.

Combine the sugar, eggs, oil, milk, vanilla, and lemon juice until well blended.

Add the flour and baking powder and combine into the mixture.

After everything else is mixed together, gently stir the coconut into the batter.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

After the cake is finished baking, take it out of the oven and pour the sugar syrup all over the top. You can use as much of it as you want - the more you use, the more moist the cake becomes as the syrup sinks in.

Let it cool, then cut the cake into small squares and sprinkle a little coconut on top of each piece.

Enjoy!