National Coffee Day definitely calls for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake so today I’m sharing my hassle-free (and can be gluten-free) coconut cake. It keeps for days so you’ll have something under the cake dome for your coffee every day this week.

Here’s what goes in

• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup of cooking oil
• 1 cup of sugar, for the sponge
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 and a half cups of flour
• 2 cups of desiccated coconut
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 three-quarter cup of milk

For a gluten free option, substitute the flour above for:

• 1 three-quarter cup of almond flour
• 1 three-quarter cup of gluten-free flour

For the syrup:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of water

How to do it:

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and select your cake tin, to be lined and greased. My suggestion is that you choose a cake tin, like a Bundt tin or an Angel Food cake tin, to give the cake a beautiful form. This is not a cake that you’re going to ice, so you can’t cover its blemishes and bumps with icing. So the naked, baked form counts.

Beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow, then add the oil. Mix in all the remaining ingredients, adding the coconut in last. Bake for approximately one hour or until golden brown and the skewer comes out clean.

To make the syrup, heat the sugar and water together in a saucepan and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Allow the syrup to cool, and then pour it over the warm cake, leaving it until the syrup is absorbed. When the cake has cooled completely, turn it out onto a cake plate and sprinkle a little desiccated coconut over the cake as a finishing touch.