Chocolate Pound Cake with Old Fashioned Fudge Icing

I made my first pound cake not too long ago, and after the pleasant (and delicious) experience I decided to branch out and try another flavor.  My hubby's stepmom made the most amazing chocolate pound cake with a fudge icing one night when we were over there (think icing being poured directly over the hot cake just out of the oven....) and that sealed my decision to take on this recipe from the Junior League's Perennials cookbook.

Some chocolate on chocolate cakes are too much for some people.  I may not be in that camp, but there are those out there who don't particularly care for the "death by chocolate" types of confections.  The good news is that this is a cake even those said individuals will love.  The actual cake's flavor isn't so overpowering, letting the rich fudge icing get its share of the limelight as well.

This icing is the kind that everyone's grandmother used to make.  The kind you cook.  I'm not sure what it is about cooking chocolate icing, but it makes it so much better than the frosting you simply whip in a stand mixer.  Simply put, this icing takes the cake (pun intended).

Lemon Poppyseed Bread with Lemon Glaze

Maybe I'm alone, but I've always wondered just why poppyseeds are so often added to any type of lemon flavored bread.  They don't really have a taste (not one that I can detect anyways) and they don't enhance the texture of the bread.  But I'm not complaining because I love the way they look and I love the little crunch you get from each of those little seeds.

I've always had a soft spot for lemon poppyseed muffins, but I've never had them in loaf form and thought it was time to concoct such a recipe.  The below recipe is quick and easy to throw together because it is based on a boxed cake mix.  The bread is also pretty sweet which means I enjoyed it for both breakfast and dessert :)  Okay, and maybe for a mid afternoon snack too.

I will say that this bread is very dense and moist.  It doesn't have that fluffy texture that you get in a sandwich bread.   But that's what I was going for so it didn't disappoint me in the least. 

*Don't worry if your loaf "collapses" after you pull it out of the oven.  Mine was really high and shrunk back down even though the bread was cooked through.  That's to be expected, so don't think you did anything wrong.