FOOD: Almond Cream Cheese Roses

This ridiculously simple recipe is one that my mom used to make for us growing up.  We literally devoured every single candy within minutes of it being made.  I put a little twist on this by hand molding roses out of the candy dough.  These are small enough to not be sinful, but big enough to count as a whole dessert. 

I think these would be perfect to serve after a meal on a spring Sunday afternoon with fresh flowers adorning the table and the birds chirping outside.  Sounds divine, doesn't it?  I ate some last night after making these while yelling at Abby Lee Miller (Dance Moms) on my TV, covered in powdered sugar and cream cheese while my animals were trying to scale my sweatpants to get the cream cheese off my sweatshirt.  Not quite as peaceful and serene as the picture I painted up there, but I still enjoyed my treat nonetheless!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 ounces cream cheese (do not use light cream cheese!!)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Food coloring

1 -  Put all the ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer.  I had mine on a medium setting and still ended up with powdered sugar all over the kitchen.  It will seem as if there is not enough cream cheese, but trust me, there is.  Just keep beating it until it turns into little chunks like the last photo above.

2 - Knead the chunks together until you get it consistently doughy.

3 - Split your dough 1/3 and 2/3.  You will need more pink than green.  Add one drop of food coloring to each batch.  Beat with your electric mixer until color is speckled throughout the dough.  Then, knead until color is consistent throughout.

4 - Take a small piece of dough and roll into a ball, squish into a circle using your palm and thumb.  Wrap the circle around itself to make a tube.  Make another circle and wrap that around the first tube on the side with the seam.  Repeat this over and over until your rose is the size you desire.  If your dough is too sticky for this step (sticking at all to your hands) put the dough in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.  It will harden slightly and take away the stickiness.

5 - Make your leaves using the same roll and squish technique and shape with your fingers.  Use your fingernail to make the impressions of veins in the leaves.  Attach the leaves to the rose by smoothing the dough together with your finger tips.

 6 - Present and enjoy!

If you are not a fan of almond.. you can replace the 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract with mint extract or any other flavoring your prefer.  Also, make sure to keep these refrigerated because of the cream cheese.  They will turn into a gooey mess if you don't! 

If you don't have time to make the rose, use a silicone candy mold to get a cute, easy shape.  I took the leftover dough I had and made a bunch of little leaves with a mold to bring to work.  It still looks great, but cuts the time in half. 

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