Pie in the Sky Successful Baking at High Altitudes: 100 Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Breads, and... at Chef2Chef

Do your cakes collapse, soufflés slump, cookies crumble, and fruit pies fail? For those living at high altitude, baking can be a challenge at best, or a total disaster. More than thirty-four of the fifty United States, plus many Canadian regions, have cities and towns at altitudes of more than 2,500 feet, yet there are hardly any cookbooks that address the special needs of these local bakers. Until now. Award-winning cookbook author Susan G. Purdy has finally written the first-ever foolproof guide to high-altitude baking.

Purdy has actually "gone there and done that," staying as long as it took to bake these recipes to perfection at five different locations -- and elevations -- across thecountry. In Pie in the Sky, Purdy leaves behind old conversion tables, disproves many oft-repeated calculations and adjustments, and presents reliable recipes in their entirety for each altitude. She takes out the tinkering and guarantees success at any height.

In addition, she explains the hows and whys, gives tips and hints for problems specific to every altitude, and generally demystifies the subject of atmospheric obstacles that cause favorite recipes to flop. Whether they live in the eastern mountains or the far west, in Boston, Massachusetts; Boone, North Carolina; or Santa Fe, New Mexico; home bakers as well as experienced chefs will love the wide range of easy-to-make treats including Mile-High Lemon Meringue Pie, Coconut Cake with Coconut Icing, Paradise Peak Chocolate Soufflé, Vail Lemon-Poppy Seed Loaf, Celestial Challah, and Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake.

Every recipe was tested at sea level (Connecticut), 3,000 feet (North Carolina and Virginia), 5,000 feet (Idaho and Colorado), 7,000 feet (New Mexico), and 10,000 feet (Colorado) and can be used at these elevations or any points in between.

Reader Reviews
Susan Purdy, "America's Julia Child," has come up with her best idea yet. I'm sure everyone knows that baking at high altitudes sometimes leads to embarrassing and tasteless flops in the oven. Nobody except the top physicists knows why this is true, but it's one of those things many home bakers try to compensate for. Finally, a recipe book which tells you exactly what to do, no matter if you're cooking at sea level, or ten thousand feet, or five thousand feet or two. Even experienced chefs sometimes come a cropper when trying to calculate how much or how little baking soda or sugar to include in a new oven. Purdy quotes Ross Parsons, LA Times food columnist, to the amusing effect that so frequent were his culinary screwups in Albuquerque (New Mexico--5,000 feet above sea level) that he pretty much swore off baking. "Early trauma made me a reluctant baker. I'm still afraid to bake and hardly ever try, even though I have moved to sea level in Long Beach, California." Ross, I'm sure you will be the first to purchase a copy of PIE IN THE SKY, but you won't be the only one. Susan Purdy and her staff have cooked every one of one hundred dishes at all four altitudes and have provided a flaw-proof recipe for each one. Handy charts show you the way. At last, no matter where you live in the USA (and remember, there are 37 states which have high altutude locations), you can cook the Susan Purdy way--without a glitch or a fallen souffle. And oh, the recipes themselves! All our favorite pies, cakes and brownies, and more! Anna's Butter Cake--a traditional Swedish favorite. All the butterfied goodness of Scandinavia in one cake. Colorado Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Forsting--two ways to go wrong and Susan deftly avoids each one! And she even tells you the best way to fly with this cake in your lap! For when sending desserts UPS it's often not the jostling that spoils the surprise it's the altitudes of the cargo planes they send to ship your sweets with! Susan's own favorite out of all the recipes here is her version of Flourless Chocolate Espresso Trufffle Cake. "I love it warm from the ooven," writes Piurdy, "when it is soft as a just-set pudding, and I like it even better chilled--or straight from the freezer--when it has the consistency of a velvety truffle." She reminds us all that the quality of the chocolate is essential to the success of the dessert. And finally, if you're into biscotti, and want to make perfect biscotti every time, even though you live in Boulder or Aspen, just step this way. The "Pie in the Sky" (don't you just love that title, shared by at least fifteen other books over the years according to my copy of BOOKS IN PRINT) has the answer and the solution to all your altitude problems.