What was this cake?

Cafe Society
1

Yesterday I attended a carry-in birthday party. One person, the birthday boy’s co-worker, brought in a delicious cake that his son’s wife had made. The cake seemed to be a cornmeal cake with coconut mixed in, and the whole thing was soaked in some kind of syrup, honey syrup maybe, then dusted with ground coconut. It wasn’t too sweet and had a pleasant gritty texture.

Is this a “thing”? Sound familiar to you? Have a recipe?

If it helps, the co-worker is Russian, though I have no idea where his son or, more importantly, his son’s wife grew up.

2

Amigdilopita?

Similar previous thread.

Here’s a similar one with coconut that doesn’t sound like it would be cornmealy in texture. I wonder if it’s a cross of the two.

3

Amigdilopita looks right. Farina could definitely have been the texture in it–much more likely than cornmeal, actually, because it was quite gritty. I guess this was a coconut version rather than an orange version.

4

I’ve had this before, too, and contacted a friend I haven’t seen for twenty years. She said it’s a Middle Eastern recipe: semolina cake. Found a recipe here at the. Boston Globe: Recipe for semolina, coconut, and marmalade cake - The Boston Globe

Going to make this today!