This is getting ridiculous. I cannot get any recipe to work!

I'm in Colorado and this high altitude baking is driving me crazy! All of my cakes fall, and when I make the high altitude adjustment and they finally rise enough, they're dry and crumble.

Can anyone help me?! I need a good high altitude recipe!

Amen! Same here. I'd love some recipes too. Scratch cakes hate me, and I think this is the reason.

Thank you, anyone, in advance!

I don't use recipes specifically for high altitude, I make adjustments.

Are you baking at a lower temp and for a slightly shorter time? I bake at 325 and start checking for doneness 10 minutes before the recipe calls for and every 2 minutes after that if it not ready.

Recipes with buttermilk tend to work better than others.

Try separating your eggs, whip the whites to semi stiff peaks and fold into the batter at the very end.

Keep trying recipes until you find a few that work; seems like not all recipes convert to high altitude.

The Colorado chapter of ICES has a cookbook available that is billed as "keeping high altitude cooking in mind" and is available here: http://www.coices.org/Products.html.

There's a wealth of information in the book Chocolate Snowball by Letty Halloran Flatt who is the executive pastry chef at Deer Valley Resort in Utah.

HTH

Thank you, so mcuh, Elcee! I'll try your advice and also look up that site!

apesusi, so I just came across this thread! I think I'm in love!

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=6737593#6737593

I like the link on there.

http://www.handmadeinhighplaces.com

I was doing a google search on high altitude baking last week when I was trying to get my cake to rise. The first 10 links I looked at all said to increase the temp. I just googled "high altitude adjustments cake"

http://www.pillsburybaking.com/bakers_corner/high_altitude_baking.aspx
http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/high-altitude-cake-baking/Detail.aspx
http://www.swcoloradohome.com/articles/food/020114_b.asp
http://www.thecookinginn.com/haltitude.html


I'm not disagreeing with you! I was just making sure I was reading what you wrote correctly. I'll try lowering the temp as well. Thanks for talking it out with me!

I know this thread started a while ago, but I had some advice: "High altitude" includes those that live at 3500-10000 and at each level there are tricks, at some heights you need to lower the temp some you raise the temp.  I just read "Pie in the Sky" and have made about 5 different cakes now, they all turned out beautiful!  ( i am at 5000ft).  In the book she has recipes but she also explains the science of why to help you change any current recipes that you may have, it really is an amazing book. 

AI have really struggled with scratch baking! I am at 6500 ft. I too have to lower my temp aNd bake for a shorter period. Most of the time my cakes will rise and then fall the last 10-15 min of baking

http://www.csuextstore.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=25
http://www.highaltitudebaking.com/adj_recipes.htm
http://www.swcoloradohome.com/articles/food/020114_b.asp
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/high-altitude-baking.html
http://www.bettycrocker.com/how-to/tipslibrary/baking-tips/baking-cooking-high-altitudes
http://allrecipes.com/howto/high-altitude-cake-baking/

AMy trusty recipes failed when I moved to colorado springs. My sour cream cakes would all fall, and come out sticky, too moist etc....Yuck! My husband cant have dairy so we made one for our family using dairy free sour cream (Tofutti Sour Supreme from Safeway or Whole Foods) and it turned out perfect!!! Worth a try!

thank  you