Almond Cream Cheese Bundt

Every autumn, my mother and daughter(s) attend the Taste of Home Cooking School in our area with me. It's a fun time together. There are at least 50 prizes drawn that range from gift bags and baskets to a brand new oven range. We have won something most years. Sadly, this year was not one of them. Neither was last year! (I think they'd better get their act together!) There are vendor booths where you can buy and sample. The food booths were amazing this year. The samples were full-sized servings! Sarah-Kate made friends with the ice cream man and we went home with two shopping bags full of all kinds of wonderful ice cream!


The school is more like a demonstration, but we always learn something. For years, we had the same instructor and loved her. She told wonderful stories and had a great sense of humor. The last two years, we've had two different teachers -- who just don't measure up in our opinion. Isn't it just that way? Even if you're good, it is hard to follow a great act!

Check out the link above to see when the school will be in your area. I do recommend attending!






The screen above shows one of the recipes demonstrated, a fantastic monkey bread recipe. I made it for a special Sunday breakfast a few weeks back. Fantastic!

Almond Cream Cheese Bundt

1 cup sliced almonds, divided (I have found them much cheaper at Trader Joe's.)
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
24 frozen dinner rolls, thawed but cold
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar

Glaze:
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1. Coat a 10-inch fluted pan (Bundt) with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1/4 cup almonds; set aside. Cut cream cheese into 24 equal cubes. In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Roll cream cheese cubes in sugar mixture and coat completely. Wrap a roll around each cube to completely enclose cream cheese. Dip each filled roll in sugar mixture until coated.

2. Place 12 filled and coated rolls in the prepared pan and sprinkle with half of the remaining almonds. Combine the butter and brown sugar in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds or until sugar is dissolved; stir to combine. Pour half of the brown sugar mixture over rolls in pan. Place remaining rolls in pan. Sprinkle with remaining nuts and any remaining sugar mixture. Top with remaining butter mixture.

3. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until dough reaches the top on the pan. (I let mine rise in the refrigerator overnight and that worked well also.) Remove wrap and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. (I would suggest placing the bundt pan in another pan to prevent a mess in your over! The wonderful, gooey, sugary stuff ran over and caused my kitchen to fill with smoke!) To prevent over browning, cover with foil the last 15 minutes of baking. Invert pan immediately onto a serving platter. (It is natural for the bread to settle.) Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over warm bread.

Enjoy! It is best served warm, but is great cold, too!