Pie in the Sky Successful Baking at High Altitudes: 100 Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Breads, and Pastries Home-tested for Baking at Sea Level, 3,000, 5,000, 7,000, and 10,000 feet (and Anywhere in Between). [Hardcover]

Susan G. Purdy (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 31, 2005

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks (May 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060522585
• ISBN-13: 978-0060522582
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Bread
  • #68 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Desserts

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 82 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars There aren't Enough Stars for this "Pie in the Sky"! December 6, 2005

By Jim

Format:Hardcover

I love to bake - plain and simple - I just love to bake! I never had a problem with it when I was growing up in Upstate New York or at sea level in Washington DC where I spent most of my adult life. It wasn't until I moved to New Mexico that I ever had a problem baking anything. My cakes would rise and fall like the Roman empire and my nut breads would still be undercooked after spending extra time in the oven. To my frustration, the only source of information were a few state extension service publications and that information was meager at best.

Then... along came Susan Purdy's "Pie in the Sky - Successful Baking at High Altitudes." Susan spent an amazing amount of time researching and testing scores of recipes at altitudes from sea level to 10,000 feet and everywhere in between. The result of her extensive efforts is a book that I would consider the single best reference on high altitude baking that has ever been written.

She includes a wide variety of recipes including cakes, breads, pies, cookies and pastries. All are mouth watering and very tempting such as her Daredevil's Food Cake with Mocha Buttercream Icing or the El Dorado Cheesecake with Glazed Mango Topping. The recipes are clear, concise and easy to follow. The book goes far beyond being just a collection of recipes. Each recipe begins with a story about it. She follows with a general discussion with tips on how to bake that type of item. She also includes any special notes and considerations. Aside from the discussions, the best part of the book is that it includes the differences in ingredients and techniques for baking at sea level as well as 3,000 - 5,000 - 7,000 - and 10,000 feet for each recipe! So, if you live in mountains of New Mexico or on the beach in Florida, you can use and enjoy this book.

To rate this book with only 5 stars just isn't high enough. It's clearly the high altitude baker's bible. The information is very informative, the recipes are wonderful and the theories she explains can be applied to successfully adapt your favorite baking recipes. If you love to bake and live in a high altitude this is a book that you MUST have. If you're in a lower altitude you can still find this to be a wonderful book to add to your library and enjoy using.

60 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Author's typo corrections -Pie in the Sky December 7, 2006

By Susan G. Purdy

Format:Hardcover

PIE IN THE SKY by Susan G. Purdy (HarperCollins Publishers) Thanks you for your interest in my book.

CORRECTIONS below for typographical errors in first edition. Corrections are made in reprints; I want you to have celestial results, so please check your book. Have fun baking!

pg. 119,Chocolate Buttermilk Cake, step #3:Baking SODA is correct! NOT baking powder.

pg. 196, Lemon Sponge Cake, step 6, add: ...fold in flour... "along with previously whipped whites."

pg. 250, Brownies, introduction: cross out reference to brown sugar in first line, only white sugar is used.

Pg. 123, Mocha Buttercream: Use 6(six) cups confectioners' sugar and only 5 to 6 tablespoons coffee instead of 1/2 cup . Also, make these adjustments on pg. 124 in procedure. Note that volume of frosting varies slightly depending on whether made with processor or mixer.

pg. 192, at 7,000 feet, bake coffee cake at 350 degrees not 375.

pg. 176, step #3: at sea level use 1/2 cup sugar , not 1/3 cup.

57 of 63 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars High Flying Cookbook A Winner May 31, 2005

By Kevin Killian HALL OF FAME

Format:Hardcover

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.