High Altitude Cupcakes

I enjoy reading recipes. Yes, I am that person. I will lounge on the couch with a food magazine, a recipe book, or my laptop open to tabs and tabs of recipe blogs and sites. And this is how I spend my free time. 

My passion is baking. 

For as long as I can remember, I've enjoyed baking. Cookies, Cakes, Cheesecakes, Brownies, Breads, Savory dishes, you name it! My favorite thing to bake? Cupcakes. There is just something about cupcakes that calls to me and makes me smile. I tend to bookmark cupcakes the most and are excited to try out a variety of recipes. Maybe it is because they are the small version of cakes. One complete dessert, times 12 or 24 or however many the recipe makes. Maybe its because, It can't possibly have that many calories, it fits in my hand! So I should be able to have another, right? 

Baking is my stress reliever. After a long days work, making something beautiful and sweet takes my mind off of the crap that I deal with during the day. So, in my quest for new yummy recipes, I have loads and loads of material out there. But, not for the one thing I desperately need. I happen to live at 6000 feet above sea level. 99.9% of the recipes I find are for sea level and most times, if followed exactly, will result in a less that desirable dessert. 

So, I've decided to blog about my creations and share my experience as I experiment at this altitude.

So why is it so difficult to bake at this altitude? The higher the altitude the lower the air pressure causing leavening and evaporation to happen more quickly. Without adjustments, it will rise quickly and then fall flat leaving a dense, dry cake.

As a rule of thumb, when experimenting with a new recipe I look to advice from King Arthur Flour. Since leavening and evaporation happen more quickly, I frequently:

• Raise the oven temperature, 15-25°F, which decreases the cooking time
• Increase liquids (not including eggs) 
• Decrease sugar, and if a recipe calls for brown, use dark brown sugar
• Add additional flour, 2 Tbsp per cup (I also measure flour in ounces using a scale, 1 c = 5 oz)
• Decrease leavening agent (baking power, baking soda)

Some tips that I live by: 

• If you can always bake with a convection oven. It helps with even temperatures throughout. Using conventional oven, you may need to increase the cooking temperature an additional 25°F.
• For cupcakes, I recommend using foil liners. I always use foil liners because it helps separate the cupcake from the liner and seems to hold up better.
• When adding flour at the end of a recipe, never use a mixer to incorporate. Using a wooden spoon to stir the flour in reduces the production of gluten in the mix.
• Always use a scale when measuring flour. I go by 1 cup is equivalent to 5 ounces.