High altitudes make 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 that make baking in the mountains successful. 

Moist, well-balanced, not too sweet, with tastes that speak of fall, this cake is a lovely way to welcome the season. I’ve included orange flavoring in both the cake batter and glaze because it pairs so well with sweet potatoes. Feel free to omit it or use additions of your choice.

If you lack pumpkin pie spice you can make your own. Whisk 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon with 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of both ground cloves and ground allspice and 1/3 plus 1/8 teaspoons of ground nutmeg. You’ll have more than you need for this recipe; store the rest in a small, sealed package. 

You can bake or microwave sweet potatoes — one large or two small — to mash for this recipe. I’ve even used canned ones successfully. Drain, rinse and mash a 15-ounce can of sweet potatoes or yams, and you’re good to go.

Sweet potato bundt cake

Make in a 6-cup shiny metal Bundt pan, preferably non-stick. Adjusted for elevations of 7,000 feet and above

• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• Zest of 1 orange or generous ¼ teaspoon orange oil, optional
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar, preferably superfine
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons bleached all-purpose flour, spoon and level
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• Generous 1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Glaze, optional 

• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
• 2-3 tablespoons orange liqueur or orange juice

Get ready: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the center position. Generously grease your pan with a baking spray that contains flour.

Prepare the sweet potatoes: Whisk/stir the mashed sweet potatoes, oil, vanilla and (if using) orange zest/oil until well combined and smooth. Set this aside.

Start the cake batter: Cut the butter into small pieces and add them, with the sugar, to a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed or by hand until light and fluffy. One at a time, add the eggs and beat until blended. Scrape down the bowl as needed throughout this step.

Add the dry ingredients: In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and whisk until fully combined. In four additions, add this to the sweet potato mixture, stirring gently by hand or at the lowest speed of your mixer, only until the dry ingredients disappear after each addition. Check the bottom of the bowl to be sure all are well combined.

Bake and cool: Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and level the top and tap the pan on a counter to release any air bubbles. Bake until the top is golden, the sides just start to pull away from the pan, and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, from 35-45 minutes. Don’t overbake or the cake will be dry. Place on a rack to cool for 15 minutes.

Make and apply the glaze, if using: While the cake cools, whisk the sugar, vanilla (if using), and 2 tablespoons of the orange juice/liqueur until well combined. Add more juice, if needed, to reach a consistency that easily slides off a spoon. After 15 minutes of cooling, carefully invert the cake pan and let the cake fall out onto a platter or cardboard cake circle. Use a toothpick to make holes all over the top of the cake, drizzle the glaze over the warm cake, and let it cool completely.

Store and serve: The cake is at its  best a day or two after baking, so, cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Dr. Vera Dawson is a high-elevation baking instructor and author of three high-altitude cookbooks (available at The Bookworm in Edwards, Next Page Bookstore in Frisco). She’s lived in the Rockies since 1991 and has been developing and adjusting recipes so that they work at our altitude ever since. Contact her at veradawson1@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.