Baking at 5,000 feet

I love to cook! I cook my family's dinner from scratch, I make healthy snacks at home, and I even bake and decorate my own cakes at birthday time. But when I moved from Atlanta, Georgia, to Denver, Colorado, I did not realize at first why my cookies and biscuits and cakes were failing. Here is the explanation of why:

As elevation rises, air pressure falls, which means that cooks living in Denver will see different results than cooks in Atlanta. Since most recipes in books, magazines, and blogs are designed for sea level, high-altitude recipe success requires a few mathematical adjustments.

Water boils at a lower temperature at high atlitudes, and the low air pressure makes leavening gases expand more quickly.

If you use your sea level recipe for cake in Denver (which is at about 5,000 feet), your cake could turn out coarse-textured, or could even burst and fall.

Another problem affecting your recipes is quicker evaporation at high altidude. It makes baked goods more prone to sticking. And sugar becomes more concentrated. Some cakes won't set, others become dry and crumbly.

Here are the guidelines I follow as I convert my favorite recipes for use at 5,000 feet:

Adjust the amounts of leavening, sugar, and liquid.

At 3,500-6,500 feet:
1. Decrease baking podwer by 1/8 teaspoon for every teaspoon called for in the sea-level recipe.
2. Decrease sugar by 1 tablespoon for each cup called for in the sea-level recipe.
3. Increase liquid by 2 tablesoons for each cup called for in the sea-level recipe.

At 6,500-8,500 feet:
1. Decrease baking podwer by somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon for every teaspoon called for in the sea-level recipe.
2. Decrease sugar by 2 tablespoons for each cup called for in the sea-level recipe.
3. Increase liquid by 3 tablesoons for each cup called for in the sea-level recipe.

At 8,500-10,000 feet:
1. Decrease baking podwer by 1/4 teaspoon for every teaspoon called for in the sea-level recipe.
2. Decrease sugar by 2 1/2 tablespoons for each cup called for in the sea-level recipe.
3. Increase liquid by 4 tablesoons for each cup called for in the sea-level recipe.

Another thing I adjust is my baking temperature and time. Sometimes all I need to do is turn up my oven by 25 degrees. Sometimes I just need to add an extra 5-10 minutes of baking time. I will let you know with each recipe what the difference is.

I use Kitchenaid Stand-Mixer Attachment Pack - Grinder/Slicer/Strainer!