Pumpkin Ribbon Bread

This bread is beautiful when cut, with the slices fanned out on a serving plate and very good! All my neighbors fell in love with this recipe!

Bread:
1 ½ c. cooked pumpkin (about 1 small can of pumpkin)
¾ c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 ¼ c. sugar
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp cloves
¾ tsp cinnamon
2 ½ c. flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 c. chopped pecans ( I leave these out – but if you like nuts, throw them in!)

Filling:
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 TBS flour
1 egg
2 tsp grated orange peel

For filling beat cream cheese, sugar and flour together in a small bowl. Add egg; mix to blend. Stir in orange peel; set aside. Make bread by combining pumpkin, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar, salt, cloves, cinnamon, flour, baking soda and pecans; mix to blend. Pour 1/4 of batter (just covers bottom of pan) into 2 greased and flour 1 ½” x 3 1/3” loaf pans. Carefully spread the cream cheese mixture over batter. Add remaining batter, covering filling. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 ¼ hours, or until bread tests done with wooden pick (in my oven it only takes 60 – 65 minutes). Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Store in refrigerator.