Friday, June 29, 2012

The Ultimate High Altitude Cupcake Recipe

The ONE thing I don't love about living in the mountains is the frequent baking failures. My house is at 6000 feet above sea level, and I've seen about 7 or 8 spectacular baking failures as a result. The thinner air provides less support for the cake as it rises, leading to very sick-looking cupcakes.

Secret: I've been using boxed mixes as a foolproof base for some of my cupcakes. I jazz them up with some pudding, or sour cream, or buttermilk, but I still feel guilty about using anything from a box.

But TODAY! Today, I found a from-scratch ALTITUDE-PROOF vanilla cupcake recipe! It rises beautifully, cooks for the right amount of time, tastes yummy and fluffy. I'm sure it would work at sea level, too... But you guys could make any cupcake from any recipe so whatever.

I topped it with some spiced honey buttercream, a delicate flavor for the more mature cupcake consumer.


Altitude-Proof Vanilla Cupcake

Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Makes 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.

Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and fill about 2/3 with cupcake batter. Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, or until tops of cupcakes spring back when touched.

Spiced Honey Buttercream

Frosts 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Milk, if needed

Beat butter with electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, and beat until smooth. Add honey, vanilla and cinnamon, adjusting to taste. If too thick, add milk one tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.


26 comments:

  1. What temperature should you bake them at? 350?

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    1. I did it at 350 for 20 minutes and it was delicious.

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  2. 375-degrees worked well for me in Utah.

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  3. Thank you! I'm baking these today. I'm at 7200' in Colorado. I'll let you know how they turn out. ;-)

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  4. The batter was thick, but it worked. Saved me from epic parenting fail. 6 year old needs cupcakes for her birthday and I cannot make them at this altitude.

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  5. I can't wait to make these. I just moved from sea level where I lived all my life to 5,000 ft in CO. I tried to alter a few cookie recipes, but they just don't come out right. Thanks so much!

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  6. Definitely a dense cupcake, but good.

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    1. do you think ordinary cane suger will work? I just don't want anything to go wrong

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  7. To lighten the recipe, try 1/4 cup butter (or coconut) and 1/4 c liquid or applesauce. My problem with high fat is that it ends up "frying" the batter into a huge, solid oily, gross mess!

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  8. This recipe worked very well for me! I cooked the cupcakes at 350 for 16 minutes and it was perfectly cooked! I would highly recommend this high-altitude cupcake recipe!

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  9. Baking powder instead of baking soda??
    Anyone?

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  10. I ended up baking mine at 350 for about 20 minutes, I live at 6000 ft above sea level and these came out delicious. I also put chocolate chips in the batter ;)

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  11. Seriously had my doubts but these were super nom nom. I live at 5000 feet. I used to live at sea level in upstate New York... finding a recipe that i can use at this altitude is always a struggle. The batter is super thick, but it cooks up light and fluffy. I cooked mine at 350 for about 20 minutes. Thank you for sharing this.

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  12. I live in Denver and have made these for a few parties and LOVE them. The batter is dense, so I added 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce to help with the denceness. I also added mini chocolate chips sometimes. Thanks for the great recipe!

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  13. I live in Denver and have made these for a few parties and LOVE them. The batter is dense, so I added 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce to help with the denceness. I also added mini chocolate chips sometimes. Thanks for the great recipe!

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  14. This recipe is perfect!!! I live in Denver and have been trying to find a recipe that worked for 12 years - this is it! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you :)

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  15. Can you double the recipe without jeopardizing the outcome?

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  16. Hello,
    I'm at 92000 ft in Colorado. Could I bake a cake from this recipe instead of cupcakes.?

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  17. Oops, haha. Meant to say 9200 ft. :)

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  18. I used a 1 oz scoop with regular cheap cupcake paper. Filled and no problem with rising. I doubled it and added 2 Tbs bacon grease. I made Bacon Maple cupcakes with this receipe and they came out great! Thanks, because yesterday they didn't with a different receipe. Thank you SO MUCH!

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  19. Do you have to use whole milk in the recipe?

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  20. Has anyone used whole wheat flour for this recipe? Any changes to use it?

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  21. So far the best cupcake recipe I have found and I have tried many. I added a squeeze of lemon, 1/2 a lemon.

    I live in Northern CO.

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