High Altitude Vanilla Loaf Cake

An easy, high altitude recipe for a simple vanilla loaf cake that's tender, buttery and moist, drizzled with sweet vanilla bean icing.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings1 loaf

1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp cake flour, spooned and leveled
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup whole milk
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla bean paste, or good quality vanilla extract (or seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean)

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a standard sized loaf pan with a sheet of non-stick baking paper or parchment paper, so that the paper hangs over two sides. The paper serves as a "sling", making it easy to lift the cake out of the pan. Lightly spray with non-stick baking spray.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add the eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla, and whisk for about 15 seconds, until smooth.
Pour the batter into the pan. Bake the cake on the center oven rack for about 37-40 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife comes out clean. The top of the cake should be domed, golden brown and cracked down the middle.
Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then gently lift the cake out (using the paper) and set on a cooling rack. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely for several hours before drizzling with icing.

When the cake is cool, set it on a serving plate.
In a bowl, whisk together all of the icing ingredients until smooth. It will be thick, but drizzly, and should be thicker than you think it should be, or it will just run off the cake.
Spoon the icing over the cake, letting it cover the top and drip over the sides. The icing will set in about 15-20 minutes.
Note: If you like less icing, or want it thinner and less opaque, make half the icing recipe and increase the milk slightly.

Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The icing will get a little sticky when the cake is stored.

Keyword High Altitude, Loaf Cake, Vanilla, Vanilla Bean

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