Recipe courtesy of An Edible Mosaic: Middle Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair by Faith Gorsky (Tuttle Publishing; Nov. 2012); reprinted with permission.
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C); brush the tahini on the inside of a 10-inch (25 cm) round baking pan.
Whisk together the semolina, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the butter and then the milk until combined, and then fold in the coconut.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread it out evenly; let it sit for 10 minutes.
Score the batter into 1-inch (2.5 cm) square or diamond shapes with a sharp knife, periodically dipping the knife in hot water and drying it off before continuing to score the batter; place 1 almond in the center of each diamond.
Bake until the sides and top are golden brown, about 30 minutes. (If the sides are brown but the top isn't, you can broil the cake for a couple minutes to brown the top.)
Once out of the oven, cut the cake along the lines you scored. Slowly pour the cooled syrup onto the hot cake. Let the cake sit at room temperature 2 hours to absorb the syrup before serving.
Scented Sugar Syrup
Add the sugar, water and lemon juice to a medium, thick-bottomed saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat, giving the pan an occasional swirl and skimming off any foam on the surface.
Turn heat down slightly and boil 2 minutes (if you want thin syrup-you do for this recipe) and up to 5 minutes (if you want thick syrup), swirling the pan occasionally. (The syrup will thicken more upon cooling.)
Turn off heat and stir in the rose water or orange blossom water; cool to room temperature, then use.
Notes
My changes: I halved the recipe (both cake and syrup) I baked in a mini-muffin tray for 18 minutes and got 9 muffins. I reduced sugar. In the cake I used 1/4 cup (instead of 1/2 for a halved recipe) and in the syrup I used 3/4 cups (instead of 1 cup for a halved recipe). I also used 1/2 cup regular milk and 1/4 cup almond milk instead of 3/4 cups regular milk. I used sliced almonds instead of a whole blanched one on top. I used 1/4 teaspoon of orange extract (for a halved recipe) instead of rose water or orange blossom water. I did not end up using the full (halved) syrup amount, maybe about 3/4 of it when pouring over the muffins.