{"id":1304786,"date":"2019-03-04T17:13:34","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T00:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/?p=449860"},"modified":"2019-03-04T17:13:34","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T00:13:34","slug":"vera-dawson-high-altitude-baking-columnist-pens-new-cookbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/vera-dawson-high-altitude-baking-columnist-pens-new-cookbook\/","title":{"rendered":"Vera Dawson, high-altitude baking columnist, pens new cookbook"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cCookies for People in High Places\u201d can be purchased at The Bookworm of Edwards for $14.95.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you’re an avid reader of the Vail Daily, then you’ve likely seen Vera Dawson’s column “High Country Baking.”<\/p>\n

Dawson, a baker and an author, has written a new book \u2014 her third \u2014 called “Cookies for People in High Places.” The book focuses on, well, cookies and specifically how to bake them above 9,000 feet.<\/p>\n

“I come from a family that likes to cook and it’s something I’ve basically done all my life and really enjoyed,” Dawson said. “My mother enjoyed baking and my uncle was a great cook in all ways and they inspired me.”<\/p>\n

Dawson has lived in Summit County for 20 years now, visiting frequently for eight years before that, making her an expert in all things altitude \u2014 a trait that’s helpful when crafting and retooling recipes designed for lower elevations.<\/p>\n

The recipes in Dawson’s book, especially the ones that she adapts from other publications, never make it to print without being tested several times.<\/p>\n

Nutty chocolate drops are easy to make and contain almonds and chocolate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“There are certain things you learn about how ingredients react at high altitudes,” Dawson said. “The more I became knowledgeable about altitude, the faster I get (at testing recipes). But sometimes, I have to adjust it six or seven times.”<\/p>\n

\n

Recommended Stories For You<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Dawson won’t publish a recipe in her books or columns until it’s “totally reliable.”<\/p>\n

Although some of the recipes aren’t entirely original, a great deal of them are. Dawson also recognizes that a truly original recipe is a rarity.<\/p>\n

“We laugh at people who are really into baking because there’s never an original recipe,” Dawson said. “There’s a certain science to it.”<\/p>\n

With over 200 baking books, a plethora of blogs and a number of baking friends, it’s not hard for Dawson to find inspiration and make the recipes her own.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes (the recipe) is more mine than anyone else’s, and sometimes it’s one that I’ve seen and I put my spin on it.”<\/p>\n

\u201cCookies for People in High Places\u201d also includes photos by Vera Dawson, such as these Viennese sandwich cookies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And it’s not just crafting recipes \u2014 she also teaches baking classes. Nowadays, she teaches private classes in homes on a freelance budget, but for a time, she taught at Colorado Mountain College. She’s also been writing her column since the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

Like her first book (“Cookies in the Clouds”), this one focuses solely on cookies.<\/p>\n

“Cookies are what most people in America bake,” Dawson said. “If you ask people if they bake, they’ll say ‘well just cookies.’ So I decided to make a book about cookies.”<\/p>\n

Additionally, her first cookie book has sold out completely, and Dawson said that bookstore owners encouraged her to write another book based on cookies.<\/p>\n

Vera Dawson\u2019s book includes a recipe for cocoa brownies, noting that cocoa is easier to work with than bar chocolate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Cookies for People in High Places” features five sections:<\/p>\n