Things Are Heating Up!
The surfaces of my kitchen appliances especially. Posts may be a bit thin on the ground leading up to the holiday as I’ve got four different projects to knock out today alone! Add to that a record volume of pre-Christmas baking questions and things are hectic at Chez Pastry. But keep the questions comin’ if you got’em. I can’t guarantee I’ll be prompt but I’ll get them answered as best I can. Best of luck all around to the Great Global Bakers Guild!
I’m amazed that you have time for blogging at all this time of year! I am only in cruise control this particular year because Hanukkah started the same day as Thanksgiving so I’ve been in continuous holiday prep mode since mid-Nov and uncharacteristically got ahead of myself about a week ago.
I squeeze it in where I can! Hehe…but I’m glad someone out there was on the case this year. I’m hopelessly behind!
– Joe
I do a lot of bread baking and have that pretty pat, but I DESPERATELY want to make a beautiful pound cake for Christmas this serve with berries and the like. One problem, I live in Colorado Springs at about 7,000 ft. Every . Single. Time. I try to make pound cake, it explodes like Mount Vesuvius all over the place. Any suggestions?
Hi Reni!
As you no doubt already know, the lower pressure up there causes leavening bubbles to expand more than they would closer to sea level. The answer is to cut the leavening down. I don’t know what sort of recipe you use, but if there’s baking power in it you’ll need to decrease that by about 2/3 (Colorado springs is over 6,000 feet it seems). If you’re creaming you’ll need to minimize that as best you can: blend the ingredients but don’t fluff them up. For a great high-altitute baking resource, check out King Arthur! Best of luck, Reni!
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/high-altitude-baking.html
– Joe