Increase Liquid

• Moisture cooks out of food faster at higher elevations. If you don’t modify the volume of moisture in the dough to compensate for the accelerated loss, pastry is too dry. Subsequently, it is less flavorful than intended because moisture molecules carry aroma, which is critical to a person’s ability to taste food. Add an additional 2 to 4 tablespoons of the primary liquid ingredient to the pastry dough. At 6,800 feet, you likely need 4 tablespoons of extra liquid. In pastry recipes that don’t call for liquid ingredients, use water. Also, fats such as butter and shortening become more concentrated at higher altitudes because of excess moisture loss. Reduce the amount of fat in the recipe by 1 or 2 tablespoons to keep the ratio of fat-to-flour balanced.

Reduce Leaveners & Regulate Rising

• With less air pressure to work against, the gasses of leavening agents expand more rapidly at higher elevations. In yeast dough, lower the volume of yeast by 20 percent, reduce the time the dough rises and only allow the dough to rise twice. In doughs that contain baking soda or baking powder, reduce the leavener by about 1/2 teaspoon per teaspoon in the recipe.

Reduce Sugar But Increase Flour

• Excess sugar weakens the gluten in flour and may cause mottling on the pastry’s surface. Reduce the volume of sugar by 3 tablespoons. If that would eliminate sugar entirely from the recipe, try cutting the amount of sugar in half. Higher altitudes compromise the structural integrity of pastry. All-purpose flour is stronger and contains more protein than pastry flour, which makes it more likely to maintain its shape. Substitute all-purpose flour for pastry flour if it is acceptable for your recipe. Increase the amount of flour in the dough by 3 or 4 tablespoons, regardless of which flour product you use.

Adjust Baking Time & Temperature

• Raise the oven temperature by 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes before baking the pastry. Place the pastry on an oven rack in the middle of the oven to moderate heat. Start checking for doneness 15 minutes sooner than the recipe recommends, but look for the same visual cues to determine doneness. If you notice the surface of the pastry browning prematurely loosely cover it with foil to protect it from the heat. To further protect the pastry from moisture loss, you can place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven to create a moist environment during baking. Remove water for the final 15 minutes of baking.