On Food and Cooking

pressure and boiling point have several
effects on a cake in the oven. The batter
starts to lose moisture at lower
temperatures, and dries out more rapidly.
The air bubbles and leavening expand
faster at temperatures below the setting
temperature, and the protein and starch set
and stabilize that structure slowly, because
the batter temperature doesn’t get as hot.
So a cake baked in the mountains tends to
end up dry, coarse, and flat.
A cake recipe developed at sea level must
be adjusted in order for it to work at
several thousand feet. The loss of moisture
can be compensated for by the addition of
extra liquid. The overexpansion of the gas
cells can be reduced by reducing the
amount of leavening. And the structure-
stabilizing elements can be set earlier by
reducing the levels of sugar and fat and
increasing the eggs and/or flour. Increasing
the oven temperature also speeds the