Amazing High Altitude Carrot Cake Cupcakes From Scratch

These amazing high altitude carrot cake cupcakes are moist and soft! They work wonderfully in my Wyoming altitude of 6200 ft.

Since moving to Wyoming, I’ve had the unfortunate experience of baking favorite recipes and discovering they don’t turn out. While some recipes work out without any alterations, I find that cakes, muffins, and some breads are more finicky. Luckily, I’ve found the most delicious carrot cake cupcake recipe that turned out amazing.

Baking Cupcakes in High Altitudes

At an altitude of 3000 ft and above, recipes may need to be adjusted. According to the Colorado State University Extension, because of the lower atmospheric pressure, food preparations will be affected in the following ways.

1. Water and other liquids evaporate faster and boil at lower temperatures.
2. Leavening gases in breads and cakes expand more quickly.

This means, when baking at higher elevations, you may need to add more liquid, and less leavening agent such as baking powder, baking soda, or yeast. This table from the Colorado Extension was helpful in knowing what and how much to increase or decrease.

Adjustments for cake recipes	3500ft – 6500 ft	6500ft – 8500ft	8500ft -10,000ft
Reduce baking powder, for each tsp, decrease	1/8th tsp	1/8-1/4 tsp	1/4 tsp
Reduce sugar, for each cup decrease	0-1 TBSP	0-2 TBSP	1-3 TBSP
Increase liquid, for each cup, add	1-2 TBSP	2-4 TBSP	3-4 TBSP

Amazing Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Now that we have talked about how altitude can affect baking and what adjustments need to be made, let’s talk about what we are really here for–these delicious, amazing carrot cake cupcakes! They are spiced perfectly, moist, and light. The cream cheese frosting is thick and rich. It is just what you would want in a carrot cake cupcake. They were gone so quickly, and already the kids are asking me to make them again.

Tips for Making Carrot Cake Cupcakes From Scratch

A few tips to make this recipe perfect. You want to use freshly grated carrots. This can be done easily in a food processor. I recruited my 12-year-old to hand grate them. He noted that, “This is kind of fun, and kind of not fun.” I think next time it will be completely “not fun.” He made a mess all over the ground, but I was happy to have someone help me in this department.

I love to use my homemade unsweetened applesauce made from sweet sixteen apples with this recipe. Even if you use canned applesauce from the store, try to get unsweetened so that it won’t be overly sweet.

I’ve just discovered these tulip baking liners and love them. They pull off the cupcake cleanly and make for an easy cleanup. I added another layer of liner after they were done baking, so that you wouldn’t see the bottom part which was discolored from the moisture in the batter.

Tips for Baking and Frosting Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Baking time will vary with oven and altitude. The higher the altitude the shorter the baking time. Mine were done perfectly, light brown on top, right at 20 minutes, but keep an eye on these. Furthermore, if you use liners, your cupcakes may require an extra minute or two of baking time.

If you are impatient like me or didn’t plan ahead for your butter and cream cheese to soften to room temperature, here’s a tip. I like to mostly melt my butter in the microwave, then mix it with a hand mixer in a bowl with the cold cream cheese. It works out to that perfectly softened texture you want.

If you don’t have a piping bag and frosting decorating tip, you can achieve this look by cutting a small corner off of a sandwich or quart size plastic bag and piping the frosting onto the cupcakes. Just make sure to seal the bag well so the frosting doesn’t squeeze out the top.

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If you’re looking for more delicious recipes, try these!

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