A little bit of coconut: Fluffy Coconut Coffee Cake

Election Day today, I know it's not popular, but I genuinely enjoy voting. At this point I know everyone who works at my polling place, a small residential garage a block from my house, just a quick little walk, the morning usually have a line out the door and down the block, but the evenings are much less populated. It wasn't always this simple the first few years I voted my poling place kept changing every year. Some were really impossible to get to, others hard to park at, it was a really mess, had the place on the PCH (Pacific Cost Highway, pull out of your polling place's parking lot onto a highway, not ideal) remained my polling place I would be absentee by now.

Coconut cofee cake, fluffy and white it doesn't need anything else. I haven't made this in years, the last time I did, my grandfather declared I was ready to get married now, and thus making coconut cake the symbol of suppression for me,,, So why did I make it again? I really missed it, It's a damn good cake. Plus I was at the middle eastern grocery store, and saw what can only be described as a lovely bag of coconut, sweetened, yes, but not as uniform and heavily sugared as the regular stuff I normally use. Yes that's right, coconut is an impulse buy for me.

Star by making a simple syrup, mix half a cup of sugar with 1 cup water, bring to a boil and boil for 8 minutes, Add 1 tbsp vanilla when off the heat, 

Beat 2 cups sugar with 1 cup butter for a long time, til all smooth, if you can dissolve the sugar you win,

Add 4 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla, beat until smooth, 

Shift 2 cups flour with 1 tbsp baking powder. Add to cake batter in shifts with 1 cup milk.

Add 1 1/2 cups coconut 

Pour into a greased pan, bake at 350 for around 70 minutes. 

Pull out of the oven and top with syrup, while still hot. 

When the cake has cooled top with 1/2 cup coconut mixed with 1/4 c powdered sugar. 

Syrup:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla

Cake:
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, room temp
4 eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups coconut

Topping
1/2 c coconut
1/4 c powdered sugar