High Altitude Spice Cake Recipes

HIGH ALTITUDE SPICE CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the brown sugar.
• In a separate bowl, stir together the water and espresso powder until dissolved. Whisk in the oil, eggs and vanilla.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk until combined; the batter will be thin.
• Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Set the pans on cooling racks, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for 1 minute until smooth.
• With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla.
• Increase the speed to medium and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy.
• Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Stack, fill and frost the cakes with the buttercream.

SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and generously grease a 9-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, and sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla extract. Add in the dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk until all ingredients have been added. The batter will be thick and smooth. Pour into your prepared pan, and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
• Cool the cake completely before slicing and frosting.
• In a small saucepan, whisk together the flour, milk, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking frequently, for about 5-10 minutes, or until the mixture becomes very thick and paste-like. Remove from heat, and place in a bowl to cool. Cool the mixture completely before moving on- this is very important!
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until it becomes very light in color- almost white- and very fluffy. This will take about 10 minutes on medium speed, using the paddle attachment.
• Once the flour mixture is cool, beat it into the butter mixture on high, and let the mixture beat for another 5 minutes or so. The frosting will become very light and fluffy and smooth. Add in the vanilla extract and beat to combine. Then, frost your cake as desired!

HIGH ALTITUDE LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. Sift the cake flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, up to 10 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time, fully blending each one in before adding the next. Stir in vanilla. Stir in the flour and baking powder, alternating with the milk until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Tap the bottoms of the pans on the counter a few times to remove air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cakes in the pans set over a wire rack.

HIGH ALTITUDE PLUM SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Put the plums on a bowl and sprinkle sugar on them. Leave them to sit while preparing the rest of the ingredients. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter a 9 inch cake tin with a removeable bottom (I used a springform pan) Line with baking paper, butter the paper, and set aside.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, lemon zest, vanilla, and sour cream. Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together in a separate bowl and then add it to the wet ingredients, mixing it in well. Spread this batter in the bottom of the cake tin. (This batter is pretty thick, and the paper will slide around, so I held it down on one edge and spread it out with my fingers.).
• Spread the plums over top of the batter in a circular pattern to within 1/2 inch of the edges.
• To make the streusel, whisk together the sugar, flour and spices. Cut into the butter until the mixture is crumbly. I use a pastry cutter but a fork will work. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over top of the plums. Use all the streusel.
• Bake on a middle rack for approximately 35-50 minutes until the streusel is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for about 15 minutes on a wire rack, before you remove the sides of the pan and the paper. Serve warm, with whipped cream or ice cream.

HIGH ALTITUDE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375F and lightly grease/flour two 9" round cake pans.
• Sift the cake flour and baking powder into a bowl and set to the side.
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, up to 10 minutes.
• Mix in eggs, one at a time, fully blending each one in before adding the next.
• Stir in vanilla.
• Stir in the flour and baking powder mixture alternatively with the milk until the batter is smooth.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Cool cakes in the pans set over a wire rack.