Appendices

baking at high altitudes

Liquids boil at lower temperatures (below 212°F), and moisture evaporates more quickly at high altitudes. Both of these factors significantly impact the quality of baked goods. Also, leavening gases (air, carbon dioxide, water vapor) expand faster. If you live at 3,000 feet or below, first try a recipe as is. Sometimes few, if any, changes are needed. But the higher you go, the more you’ll have to adjust your ingredients and cooking times.

A Few Overall Tips

• Use shiny new baking pans. This seems to help mixtures rise, especially cake batters.

• Use butter, flour, and parchment paper to prep your baking pans for nonstick cooking. At high altitudes, baked goods tend to stick more to pans.

• Be exact in your measurements (once you’ve figured out what they should be). This is always important in baking, but especially so when you’re up so high. Tiny variations in ingredients make a bigger difference at high altitudes than at sea level.

• Boost flavor. Seasonings and extracts tend to be more muted at higher altitudes, so increase them slightly.

• Have patience. You may have to bake your favorite sea-level recipe a few times, making slight adjustments each time, until it’s worked out to suit your particular altitude.