Eggless Coconut and Lemon Syrup Cake

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour (Maida) – 1 3/4 cups
Powdered Sugar – 1 3/4 cups
Desiccated Coconut – 1 cup
Milk – 3/4 cups (original recipe had 1/2 cup)
Refined Oil – 1/2 cup
Vanilla Essence – 1 1/2 tsp
Flaxmeal – 3 tbsps mixed and soaked in 9 tbsps of lukewarm water for 10 minutes (original recipe had 3 eggs)
Baking Powder – 2 tsps
Lemon Rind, finely shredded – 1 tbsp
Salt – a pinch

For Finishing the Cake:

Fresh Lemons – 2
Sugar – 1/4 cup
Water – 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Sift all purpose four, baking powder and salt together twice.
2. Mix desiccated coconut to the sifted flour.
3. Take flaxmeal, sugar and vanilla essence in a large mixing and beat until it becomes smooth and light.
4. Now slowly add oil. Beat well.
5. Add lemon rind, mix well.
6. Fold in sifted flour and coconut mixture with milk using a wooden or metal spatula.
7. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.
8. Grease and dust a cake tin of 9″ diameter.
9. Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake at 160 degrees for 40 mins.
10. Now set the temperature 180 degrees C and bake for the next 20 minutes or until the toothpick/skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
11. Let the cake stand in the oven for a few minutes.
12. Remove it out of the oven and place it on a wired rack. Let it cool down to room temperature.
13. Meanwhile carefully peel the lemons to get as long strips as possible.
14. Heat 1/4 cup sugar in 1/4 cup water.
15. Add the lemon peels
16. Boil until the lemon peels are well coated with sugar syrup and the peels turn slightly translucent.
17. Pick these peels out carefully out of the syrup using a toothpick or a skewer. Place them on a plate and them cool down. These peels will stiffen when cooled.
18. To the remaining syrup add juice of 1 lemon and 1/4 cup of hot water to thin down the syrup.
19. Unmould and place the cake on a flat plate.
20. Pour half the quantity of this lemon syrup on the cake.
21. Now carefully invert the cake and pour the remaining quantity of the lemon syrup such that the cake is soaked in lemon syrup
22. Place the stiffened lemon peels on the cake.
23. Decorate with fresh coconut curls if required.