I remembered I wanted to write this post while making a batch of chocolate chip, m and m cookies for Joe's last day of work and eating the last of our Meyer Lemon Tart for breakfast (make this: http://food52.com/recipes/10200-lazy-mary-s-improved-lemon-tart).
Do you remember back in the day when you would buy a box of cake mix and their would be these weird, nay foreign directions on the back about how to bake that cake in high altitudes? Well I am now that poor fool who will be baking in high altitude because Denver is 5,280 ft above sea level (one mile!).
I come from a foodie family. For those of you who don't know the level of foodie-ness that graces my family let me give you a few examples. At Christmas it is normal to make peanut butter balls, iced sugar cookies, iced ginger bread cookies, ginger loaf, rum balls, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered nuts and pecan tassies. We have a coffee maker and an espresso machine and a Moka and a Chemex. Every Sunday we have Sunday Dinner at Susie's which generally starts with happy hour around 4:30 (as if we haven't indulged enough over the weekend) and ends with things like barbacoa beef, home pickled onions, cilantro rice, home made tortillas and a vegetarian option like sauteed mushrooms or tofu. Do you get the picture yet? I could really do this all day.
On top of being part of this family madness I like to bake, as in "I went to culinary school, worked in a restaurant and made my friend's wedding cake" like to bake, so I am a little nervous to test out my culinary skill at 5,280 feet in the air. Being in the kitchen s part of my blood and pretty directly tied to my pride. Let's just say I am nervous that I will put my baking skillz to work in Denver and I will fail miserably and then the world will crumble like an over worked shortbread.
Doing research on the subject has not really quelled my fears either. Epicurious had a useful piece about baking/cooking at high altitudes and it comes down to three main points.
One: The higher the elevation, the lower the boiling point.
Two: The higher the elevation, the faster moisture evaporates.
Three: The higher the elevation, the faster chemical leavening expands.
To check out more specific information you can go here: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/altitudebaking_science . My research makes it sound like baking cookies, tarts and pies will be easier than breads and cakes, but basically baked goods will rise too fast and collapse, will go stale more quickly, will be overdone on the outside and underdone on the inside and crumb structure will not be ideal and all of this will result in not so tasty food. To tackle these issues I think I will start with recipes my mom and I have used time and again in Cleveland so that I know how they should turn out and then maybe it will be easier to figure out what I need to adjust to bake them in the higher altitudes. Lucky for you I am sure all of this kitchen experimentation will make good fodder for our little blog here.
Until then, peace out.
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