Living in Summit County is pure joy. Baking in it isn’t. High altitude makes cookies spread in the pan, cakes fall, and few baked goods turn out as they do at sea level. This twice-monthly column presents recipes and tips to make baking in the High Country successful.
With a tight, dense crumb, moist texture, lots of lemon and mild sweetness, this vibrant cake has springtime written all over it. It can be served for dessert or at brunch and takes little time to prepare. Combine the dry ingredients, then the wet ones, and blend them. It’s a method that is faster than creaming the butter and sugar when preparing cake batter and, often, gets better results at high altitudes. Our reduced air pressure can result in too much air in a creamed batter, causing the cake to fall as it bakes. Fresh berries or a berry sauce are a perfect accompaniment.
Ring-of-lemon cake
Adjusted for altitudes of 7,500 feet and above. Make in a 6-cup capacity shiny metal cake ring or Bundt pan.
Ingredients
- ¾ (three fourths) cup granulated sugar, preferably superfine
- 1 ½ (one and a half) cups bleached all-purpose flour, spoon and level
- ¾ (three fourths) plus 1/8 (one eighth) teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ (one-fourth) teaspoon salt
- 4 (four) tablespoons (half of a stick) unsalted butter
- 1 (one) teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 (one) teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 (one fourth) cup plus 2 (two) tablespoons whole milk or cream
- 3 (three) large eggs, room temperature
Lemon Syrup/optional glaze
- ¼ (one-fourth) cup granulated sugar, preferably superfine
- 2 (two) tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1-1 ½ (one to one and a half) cups confectioners’ sugar, use only if glazing
Get ready:Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the center position. Grease your pan with a baking spray that contains flour.
Blend dry ingredients:Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and blend them thoroughly.
Blend wet ingredients: Cut the butter up, add the pieces to a microwave-safe mixing bowl, and heat in a microwave oven at low temperature until melted. Remove from the oven, whisk in (or beat with an electric mixer) the lemon zest, vanilla, and cream. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk/beat to blend after each addition.
Create batter: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer and, while beating, use a silicone spatula to lift the dry ingredients at the bottom and on the sides of the bowl into the wet ones. Stop when the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Bake:Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth and level the top, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 minutes for a ring mold; a Bundt pan may take a little longer.
Make the lemon syrup: While the cake is in the oven, make the lemon syrup. If you are going to glaze the cake, double the ingredients. Put the granulated sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and stir it over medium heat until the sugar is totally dissolved. Remove it from the heat and let it cool.
Add lemon syrup to cake: When the cake is done place it on a cooling rack. While it is still hot, pierce the cake bottom with a toothpick at one-inch intervals. Brush the lemon syrup generously over the cake, letting it sink into the holes. Stop when the cake seems saturated, you won’t use it all and will have a lot left if you doubled the recipe to make glaze. Save the remaining syrup.
Cool the cake: Let the cake cool in the pan for 25-30 minutes, until the cake is just warm and no longer sticky to the touch. You want the lemon syrup to be absorbed before you unmold the cake. Invert the cake onto a serving plate, remove the pan, and let it cool completely. If you want to increase the lemon flavor, use a toothpick to gently poke holes in the top and then brush on a light coating with some of the remaining lemon syrup. The cake can rest until the next day, if well covered, and the lemon flavor is more pronounced when it does.
Glaze the cake (optional): Using a whisk, add confectioners’ sugar, one tablespoon at a time, to the saved lemon syrup, blending it well after each addition. Continue until the mixture thickens enough to drizzle. Give it a taste, if it’s too lemony, add more sugar and, if needed to maintain the consistency you want, a little water or milk until you like the results. Drizzle it over the cooled cake and set it aside until the drizzle sets. If you aren’t serving it immediately, cover and keep in a cool spot for 2 days.
Serve: When you are ready to serve the cake, bring it to room temperature and, if unglazed, dust the cake with confectioner’s sugar.
Dr. Vera Dawson is a high-elevation baking instructor and author of three high-altitude cookbooks (available at The Bookworm in Edwards and Next Page Bookstore in Frisco). She’s lived in the Rocky Mountains since 1991 and has been developing and adjusting recipes so that they work at our altitude ever since. Contact her atveradawson1@gmail.com.
Vera Dawson’s column “High Country Baking” publishes biweekly in the Summit Daily News. Dawson is a high-elevation baking instructor and author of three high-altitude cookbooks. Her recipes have been tested in her kitchen in Frisco, where she’s lived since 1991, and altered until they work at elevation. Contact her at veradawson1@gmail.com.
