High Altitude Baking Adjustments

If you’re lucky enough to live in the mountains above 3,000 ft., you know that this presents some challenges for baking.  Cakes rise too fast, and fall too hard!  But these problems can be overcome if you follow these High Altitude Baking Adjustments. 

The very best high-altitude cookbook, from Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. Good recipes and lots of tips to improve and perfect your high-altitude baking skills.

First, find out the exact altitude of your location by checking your address with whatismyelevation.com. (Link opens a new tab). No login required – just enter your address and it tells you your elevation in feet or meters.

Once you know your elevation, here’s a quick corrections chart to adjusting your cakes for high-altitude baking.

There are six factors you’ll need to correct in adjusting a cake recipe for high altitude: Oven Temp, Baking Time, Sugar, Liquid, Flour and Leavening.

Liquids

Because liquid evaporates more quickly at altitude and mountain air can dry out flour, adding more liquid (two to four tablespoons, depending on the elevation) to a recipe is often very helpful.

I find that my own flour is extremely dry and light compared to flour I use when visiting friends in hot, humid Georgia. See the chart below for adjusting the amount of liquid in a recipe.

Flour

Increasing the amount of flour (one to four tablespoons, depending on the elevation) in recipes can improve the structural strength of a batter. However, flour’s protein content is the most important factor governing liquid-to-flour ratios: Bread flour absorbs more liquid than all-purpose flour, which in turn absorbs more than cake or pastry flour. At high altitude, all-purpose flour is preferred over cake or pastry flour because it is stronger, has more protein, and helps baked goods maintain their shape as they cool.

For a cake mix, the rule of thumb is Add one tablespoon of flour at 3,500 ft., then another tablespoon for every 1,500 beyond that.

Eggs

Eggs add liquid as well as fat and protein to baked goods. Occasionally you can adjust a sea-level cake recipe for altitude simply by adding one more large egg. The egg white contributes strength and the yolk contains a natural emulsifier that allows batter to hold extra sugar without weakening the overall structure. Yolks also contribute richness and tenderness, which can counteract the drying effects of baking at altitude.

Fats

Fat weakens the gluten in flour and thereby creates tender baked products; this is good at sea level, but at high altitude, when fats are concentrated because of moisture loss, excess fat can weaken cell structure too much. In very rich cakes and some cookes, you need to decrease fat by a tablespoon or two to maintain structural strength.

Sugar

Sugar also weakens the gluten in flour. Excess sugar (or other sweetener) can weaken a cake’s structure and hasten its collapse. The fix: In many recipes, reduce the amount of sugar by one or two tablespoons as altitude increases.

Acidity

Acidic batters tend to set more quickly than others. In addition, acidic ingredients hold moisture in batter when reacting with baking soda. Therefore, at high altitude, most recipes for baked goods are improved by substituting buttermilk, sour milk, yogurt, or sour cream (all high in acidity) for regular (whole or low-fat) milk (which is lower in acidity).

High Altitude Baking Adjustments for your scratch recipes.

What to change	How to change it	Why
Oven temperature	Increase by 25°F for most cakes.  Increase by 15°F for chocolate or angel food and lighter cakes.	Since leavening and evaporation proceed more quickly, the idea is to use a higher temperature to set the structure of baked goods before they over-expand and dry out.
Baking time	Cut 5 to 8 minutes for every 30 minutes of baking time in the original recipe.	Baking at higher temperatures means products are set sooner.
Sugar	Cut sugar by 1 tablespoon per cup in the original recipe.	Increased evaporation also increases concentration of sugar, which can weaken the structure of your baked goods.
Liquid	Increase liquid by 2 tablespoons at 3,000 ft., and an additional 1 1/2 teaspoons for every 1,000 ft. beyond that.  “Liquid” can include eggs (highly recommended), water or milk.  1 egg is about 3 tablespoons – an egg white is 2 tablespoons.	Extra liquid keeps products from drying out at higher temperatures and evaporation rates.
Flour	Add 1 tablespoon of flour at 3,500 ft.  For every 1,500 beyond that, add another tablespoon.	In some recipes, a flour with a higher protein content may yield better results. Additional flour helps to strengthen the structure of baked goods.

High Altitude Baking Adjustments – Leavening

This is critical.  As altitude increases, leavening must decrease drastically. Because of the rapid expansion of leavening gases, you usually need to decrease the amount of baking powder or baking soda as elevation increases. Whipped whole eggs are sometimes used as leavening; they should be slightly under-whipped at high altitude. Whipped egg whites are often used as leavening. A sea-level recipe may call for whites whipped to stiff peaks (air cells are fully expanded), but above 3,000 feet elevation, egg whites must be whipped only until they form soft peaks, leaving room in the air cells so they can expand while baking and remain stable when cool.

Use the chart below to adjust the leavening in your recipe. When baking a recipe that calls for both baking powder and baking soda plus an acidic ingredient, like buttermilk or sour cream, try switching to all baking powder and sweet milk.

Baking powder or baking soda	3,000-5,000 ft	5,000-6,600 ft	6,500-8,000 ft
1 teaspoon	7/8	1/2	1/4
1 1/2 teaspoons	1 1/4	3/4	1/2
2 teaspoons	1 1/2	1	3/4
2 1/2 teaspoons	1 3/4	1 1/4	1
3 teaspoons	2	1 1/4	1
3 1/2 teaspoons	2 1/2	1 1/2	1
4 teaspoons	2 1/2	1 1/2	1

One word of caution: Many, MANY scratch cake recipes are way too over-leavened in the first place.  At high-altitude, this will make-or-break your cake!

In general, the recipe should call for:

• 1 tsp of baking powder per 1 cup of flour
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda per 1 cup of flour

Another tip – test your baking powder before dumping it in your batter.  Baking powder will lose it’s power fairly quickly – only about 9 to 12 months.  So if yours is older than that, get rid of it and buy a fresh batch.  You can test it by stirring a half a teaspoon of into a cup of hot water. If it starts to foam and fizz immediately, it’s still fresh enough to use.

Check your recipe FIRST before making high-altitude corrections!

High Altitude Adjustments – Cookies

Because cookies bake for a shorter amount of time than bread or cakes, and are relatively low in water and high in fat content, they’re much less susceptible to the vagaries of high-altitude baking. The principle adjustments recommended for cookies baked at higher altitudes (generally considered to be above 3,000 feet) are to increase the water slightly, to help the dough come together, and to decrease the amount of chemical leavens (baking powder, baking soda) used. Experienced high-altitude bakers know to bake at slightly higher temperature, with a shortened baking time. The table below gives guidelines about what adjustments to make for baking cookies at high-altitude:

What to Change	How to Change It	Why
Oven temperature	Increase 15° to 25°F; use the lower increase when making chocolate or delicate cakes	Since leavening and evaporation proceed more quickly, the idea is to use a higher temperature to “set” the structure of baked goods before they overexpand and dry out
Baking time	Decrease by 5-8 minutes per 30 minutes of baking time	Baking at higher temperatures means products are done sooner.
Liquid	Increase by 1 to 2 tablespoons at 3,000 feet, increase by 1 1/2 teaspoons for each additional 1,000 feet. You can also use extra eggs as part of this liquid, depending on the recipe.	Extra liquid keeps products from drying out at higher temperatures and evaporation rates.
Flour	At 3,500 feet, add 1 more tablespoon per recipe. For each additional 1,500 feet, add one more tablespoon.	In some recipes, a flour with a higher protein content may yield better results. Additional flour helps to strengthen the structure of baked goods.

High Altitude Baking Adjustments – Cakes, Breads, and More

Cakes: Use extra eggs to increase liquids. If only part of an egg is needed, use the whites.

Crackers and Pie Crusts: Won’t be dramatically affected, but will usually need extra water to help the dough to form.

Fried Doughs: Lower the frying temperature by 3 degrees per 1,000 feet, and increase cooking times.

Quick Breads: Use the guidelines above to make adjustments.

High Altitude Bread Corrections

Yeast Breads: Decrease the amount of yeast in the recipe by 25%, and make water/flour adjustments as necessary to get a dough with the correct texture. Make sure your bowl has plenty of room for the dough to rise in. Since rising times are much shorter at higher altitudes, you have a number of options to help its flavor.

• Give the dough one extra rise by punching it down twice before forming it.
• At higher altitudes, rising time may be reduced.
• Oven temperatures should be increased slightly, from 10 to 15°F.
• Loaves of bread should be baked at 425°F for the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking time, then baked at the normal temperature for the remaining baking period.
• Try covering the dough and placing it in the refrigerator for its first rise, to slow the action of the yeast, giving the dough more time to develop.
• If you have sourdough starter or biga on hand, use some of it for some of the liquid in the recipe. Make a sponge by mixing the yeast, the liquid in the recipe, and 1 to 2 cups of flour. Cover and let the sponge work for a few hours in the refrigerator to develop it.

Deep Fat Frying at High Altitude

	Fat Thermometer Reading	Cooking Time
Croquettes	360° – 365°F	1 – 2 minutes
Doughnuts	350° – 355°F	3 minutes
Fritters	360° – 370°F	3 – 4 minutes
Potatoes:
” French Fries	330° – 340°F	10 – 12 minutes
” Shoestring	350° – 360°F	4 – 5 minutes
Fish Fillets, etc.	365° – 370°F	6 – 7 minutes
Scallops	360° – 365°F	3 – 5 minutes

Give it a try! My Old Fashioned Coconut Cake and German Chocolate Cake have been adjusted to an altitude of 5,280. I’ve made them many times without fail. You’ll love them!

Candy Cookery at High Altitude

Sea Level	At 7,200 Feet	Cold Water Test
236° – 242°F	219° – 225°F	Thread or Soft Ball
246° – 248°F	231° – 237°F	Firm Balll
248° – 254°F	243° – 246°F	Hard Ball
260° – 275°F	248° – 254°F	Crack
289° – 295°F	275° – 281°F	Hard Crack
300°F	286°F	Caramel