Sticky lemon and poppy seed cake (with a secret ingredient)

Not that I need a reason for baking a lemon cake (we all know that) but to be honest this recipe got my attention because of the addition of finely ground oats to the batter – what might seem like a plan to trick picky eaters into eating more fiber turned out to be one of the best cakes I’ve made: great texture, moist and oh, so delicious.

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Sticky lemon and poppy seed cake
from the wonderful Short and Sweet (mine was bought here)

1 cup + 2 tablespoons (224g) granulated sugar
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, softened
100ml canola oil
finely grated zest 3 lemons
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (60ml) hot water
1 ¾ cups + ½ tablespoon (250g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
2/3 cup (75g) rolled oats, finely ground in a food processor
3 tablespoons poppy seeds

Syrup:
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
100ml lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) square cake pan.
Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar with the butter, oil and lemon zest until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk the hot water into the egg mixture until smooth, then fold in sifted ingredients, the oats and the poppy seeds. Pour into the prepared pan, and smooth the top. Bake for 50 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
As soon as the cake is out of the oven, make the syrup: heat the sugar with the lemon juice until dissolved, poke a skewer deep into the cake dozens of times, then spoon all the syrup over the top. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.

Serves 16