Spiced Buttermilk Peach Carrot Crumb-cakes with Maple Hazelnut Glaze

Somebody save me from myself! Father's Day we decided to make some scrumptious cupcakes of joy and happiness for hip-cat-daddy-O...aka Ace. My son Face was all over the project and I was all over using some of our basic food storage to pull off a masterpiece! I think, without a doubt, that we succeeded. Ace ate 7 of them in his first sitting. {insert large cheesy Chef Tess Grin here} What we came up with was like a carrot cake, but with peaches and spice and a hint of buttermilk. It was drizzled with a remarkable sweet Maple Hazelnut glaze that literally melted all over the cupcake. It was heaven. Now. Brace yourself for something crazy.

The kicker was the remarkable use of buttermilk pancake mix! I know. It was a shock to me as well that I would use pancake mix, but I was given some samples from Honeyville Farms on Friday when I visited their Chandler  store and I figured, what the heck. I can do a product review. I've used Honeyville products for years! Ironically, I've never used the pancake mix. 

{Side note: I cannot believe how excited I am to teach CLASSES at their store in addition to what I'm already doing with the remarkable Preparing Wisely Store } 

  The worst thing that could happen, would be that the "cakes" totally tasted like a pancake instead of a cupcake. Best case...well...Ace would eat seven in one sitting. So I played with a favorite crumb-cake recipe and these ingredients from Honeyville.

I also played with my son. 

Spiced Buttermilk Peach Carrot Crumb-cakes 
with Maple Hazelnut Glaze

You will need:
2 1/2 cups Honeyville buttermilk pancake mix
1 1/2 cup Honeyville freeze dried peaches
1/2 cup Honeyville dehydrated carrots
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup Honeyville 6 grain steam rolled mix
1T Chef Tess Wise Women of the East Spice and Floral Blend
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs
zest of one orange

strusel crumb-cake topping:
2 1/3 cup Honeyville Buttermilk pancake mix
1/2 cup melted butter {no substitutions}
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp Chef Tess Wise Women of the East Spice and Floral Blend

Maple-Hazelnut glaze:
1/4 cup Honeyville Maple Hazelnut whipped honey
1/4 tsp maple extract
1-2 tsp hot water
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions: In a glass or metal medium size bowl, combine the freeze dried peaches and dehydrated carrots with 1 cup boiling water. Set aside and let them hydrate for 10 minutes. In the meantime, combine the vegetable oil, sugar, six grain rolled mix, Chef Tess spices blend, vanilla, eggs and orange zest in a large bowl. Add the undrained peaches and carrots along with the pancake mix. Beat by hand 100 strokes.

Scoop into lined muffin tin.

Filling the cup 3/4 full...like this. Be impressed...that was my eight year old boy scoopin' the batter there my friends. The dude has skills.

For the strusel topping: Combine the melted butter with the dry ingredients until chunky-crumbly. I like it looking like this...

Generously top your cakes with the topping. I'm not going to lie...I like a lot of crumb on my cakes. Sue me. It makes for one din-a-dang-dong-delightful-dessert. Say that one ten times fast...with your mouth full of deliciousness.

Okay. I'm also not going to pretend I don't see it! YES...this is the cutest boy on the planet. {smoooooches!} I *heart* him. 

Once topped with the delightful crumb-tastic-goodie-fest, bake 350 degrees 15-18 minutes. This is a low altitude recipe for you folks in Utah. I've sent the recipe to my field testers there and will have the adjustments soon. 

 Now...the killer glaze.

Be still my ever-nutty-heart. Do you see the hazelnut-happiness-honey? It's maple-icious! Sigh...it's *dreamy*...like a cute boy on the beach...but ya know, legal. Like, my husband on the beach...but only for me, right ladies.  I digress.

Now, the honey alone on the crumbcakes is just about as evil-righteous as I'm even allowed to eat without confessing to my Bishop. That being said, I will not tell you how many I personally consumed. That's between me and my closed pantry door...and the empty bottle of whipped honey. Oh have mercy.

For the bakery style glaze put the honey in a microwave safe bowl and heat 10-15 seconds with the water. Stir well. Add the extract and the sugar. Stir until smooth. 

Drizzle until you pass out.

Thank you Honeyville Farms for the fabulous products I used in today's Food Storage post!

...Especially for the honey. I'm totally in love with it. I think everyone should run out and get some.

There you go!

Always my very best, 

Your Friend Chef Tess