Desiccated coconut is fresh coconut that has been shredded or flaked and dried. It is typically unsweetened, but the term is sometimes also used to refer to the less dry sweetened flake coconut as well.
Poke a hole into one of three eyes of the coconut by hammering a meticulously cleaned screwdriver into the hole.
Drain the coconut water out of the coconut. The coconut water does not come rushing out. You may need to give the coconut a good shake. You may also need to poke open one or two of the other eyes. If you plan to make sweetened coconut, be sure to save the filtered coconut water.
To break open the coconut, take it outside and throw it on some concrete. Collect all of the pieces.
Use an old dinner knife that you don't care about to separate the coconut's inner shell from the hard outer shell.
Use a vegetable peeler to peel the soft inner shell off the of the coconut meat. You can use a vegetable peeler to do this.
Shred the coconut meat using fine side of a box grater or (if thin flakes aren't important to you) chop the coconut in a food processor. If your food processor has a grating blade, that will also work well to shred the coconut meat.
Put the shredded coconut on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat and bake at 250 F until it feels brittle. This should take5-10 minutes - check on it regularly. (Skip this step if you prefer the more moist sweetened coconut and follow the instructions in the notes.)
Notes
Desiccated coconut should last at room temperature in an airtight container for months.A small coconut may yield about 2 cups of desiccated coconut, while a large one could give you four or more cups.To make more moist sweetened coconut (like Baker's Angle Flake Coconut):
Put the shredded/chopped coconut in a saucepan on medium heat with the coconut water (however much you had), and 1/3 the amount of sugar as coconut: if you have two cups of coconut, use 2/3 C of sugar.
Bring the mixture to a boil (takes 10-15 minutes) and then turn the temperature to low.
Let it simmer uncovered for about an hour. The liquid should turn into a syrup. Strain the coconut in a sieve. You can use the coconut syrup over pancakes, ice cream, in drinks, or just eat it by the spoonful.
Lay the coconut out on a parchment or silicone-mat lined cookie sheet to dry overnight. In the morning, the coconut will be dry and ready to go.
Homemade sweetened coconut will not be white. The store-bought version often uses a whitening agent to get it such a nice white color. Because it is so moist, if you aren't using it right away, you should refrigerate it. It should last for a few weeks in the refrigerator.