In a large bowl, sift together the flours, spices, sugar, salt, and yeast.  In a different small bowl, whisk together the butter and hot water to melt the butter. When the butter has melted, whisk in the milk. Crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk it briefly. Add the egg, oil, and butter and milk to the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients together. Continue mixing until the ingredients come together to form a smooth dough. If mixing with the spoon becomes difficult, knead the dough with your hands instead. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place it somewhere warm to rise for one to two hours. It’s important to cover the dough so that it doesn’t dry out. A good warm place for the dough to rise is an oven that’s turned off, but with the oven light turned on. When the dough is ready, cover your hands with a layer of oil and turn the dough out onto a flat surface. Roll the dough out with your hands into a long cylinder that’s two inches (5 cm) thick.  Cut the dough cylinder into smaller pieces that are one to two inches (2.5 to five cm) long. Arrange the dough pieces on two baking sheets and leave them to rise for another 30 to 40 minutes. While the dough is rising for the second time, prepare the syrup. The doughnuts will be fried and then dunked into the syrup right away, so it needs to be ready for when the doughnuts are fried.  Combine the sugar, water, and spices in a medium saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent the sugar from burning. When it comes to a boil, lower the heat and continue simmering and stirring until the syrup becomes thick. Lower the heat again and keep the syrup warm over low heat until the doughnuts are ready. Fill a deep fryer or deep frying pan with oil and heat it over medium–high heat. Drop a pea-sized piece of dough into the oil. When it begins to cook and sizzle, you know the oil is ready.  Take a piece of dough and stretch it out slightly to get an oval shape. Repeat with every dough piece before frying. Drop a couple oval dough pieces into the oil, but don’t crowd them. Fry the dough until the koeksisters become golden brown, about one to two minutes. Remove the doughnuts from the oil one at a time using a slotted spoon. Place them on a paper towel to remove some of the excess oil. Poke a few holes in each doughnut with a fork. Transfer the doughnuts to the warm syrup and roll them around to coat all sides. When the doughnuts are drenched in syrup, remove them one at a time with the slotted spoon. Allow the excess syrup to drain off over the saucepan. Roll each doughnut in the shredded coconut to coat them completely. Transfer them to a serving plate and enjoy!
Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately. Combine all the wet and dry ingredients. Leave the mixture to rise. Roll out the dough. Make the syrup. Stretch and fry the dough. Dip the doughnuts in the syrup. Roll in coconut before serving.