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Quiche got a peculiar rap back in the 1980s when eating it was described as something that was not masculine. I’m not sure where that came from, but in France, everybody eats quiche.

As the French debate how to address gender pronouns, in a language where crème, baguette, and salade are feminine and pâté, vin, and quinoa are masculine (although quinoa is a plante céréalière, which is feminine), for no reason other than to make the language more challenging for the rest of us to learn (whether tique, the word for tick, was masculine or feminine has been hotly debated), quiche is enjoyed by tous (or everyone, which is masculine) in France, without any blowback.

Got that?

Bakeries in France make and sell quiche by the slice, which is called une part because they’re triangular, not by the tranche, which are flat slices. They’re also sometimes called tartes salées, savory tarts. It’s a lot to practice for non-native speakers while waiting in line at the bakery, rehearsing the phrase carefully in your mind so when it’s your turn, you don’t make the mistake of asking for a tranche of quiche or un tarte, but the upside of getting to know the people at your local bakery is that an occasional goof isn’t the fin du monde.

For those who don’t want to risk it, fortunately quiche is easy to make at home, especially in France where tart dough is sold in supermarkets already rolled out, packed in long, narrow cardboard boxes or pouches. I’m not a strict DIYer; if I woke up every morning and roasted my own green coffee beans, squeezed my own orange juice, cured my own bacon, raided the henhouse for eggs, baked my own bread, and churned my own butter, I’d be ready for dinner by the time breakfast was on the table. But I don’t mind making my own pastry, which tastes better than the store-bought stuff and to me, is worth the extra effort.

When I met Vallery Lomas a few years back, I learned she’d won the third season of The Great American Baking Show. Due to allegations against one of the judges, the network decided not to air it…like, at all. Personally, I don’t know why they can’t edit shows, to let the contestants shine as they did on Ru Paul’s Drag Race “out of respect for the hard work of the other queens.” As a fellow baker, I was sad that one of the queens of baking wasn’t allowed to shine. But no one asked me.

Formerly a lawyer, Vallery left the legal field to bake. Proving that hard work and talent sometimes do pay off, a year after she left her job as an attorney, she began work on her first cookbook: Life is What You Bake It. A number of factors were part of her journey, one was living in Paris, where she learned about clafoutis, madeleines, soufflés, canelés, and Parisian macarons, which are all included in the chapter En France. Back in New York, while she was a practicing attorney during the week, Vallery was perfecting her macaron skills and launched a macaron business where she made, and delivered, 1500 macarons at a time, on weekends.

Her cookbook does double-duty as it’s also a memoir, with stories about everything from finding out the show, where she took the top prize, wouldn’t be aired, to her time living in France. Tucked in between the cakes, cookies, and tarts, there’s a recipe for Cake Pan Quiche Lorraine that looked like just the thing to bake this fall, with the weather getting chillier.

ValIery points out that her Cake Pan Quiche Lorraine is a bit non-traditional because it’s baked in a cake pan. I don’t want to argue with a lawyer (or a baking show first-prize winner), but her “cake pan” version does indeed hew to what is sold in France, where quiches and savory tartes are sometimes served in taller wedges, not always as a flat tart. The nomenclature varies but thankfully, bakeries aren’t staffed by pedants (or the grammar police, in case you mix up what’s masculine or feminine) so the nomenclature can vary. And the last thing you want to do is pick a fight with someone handing you freshly baked pastries. Trust me, you want to remain on their good side.

While cheese is not in the original quiche Lorraine recipe, nowadays many have cheese added. I’ve read that the original recipe was also cooked in a cast-iron pan, not in a tart pan, and was baked in bread dough, not a buttery crust. Some say quiche Lorraine also didn’t have bacon in it either. (And that it was likely invented in Germany.) I wasn’t around in the 16h century when quiche Lorraine was invented so can’t say for sure but food evolves and changes with the times and tastes.

As journalist and writer Bill Buford pointed out, legendary pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre said, “You can change anything, as long as you make it better.” And this quiche is proof of his point. It’s great.

Speaking of bacon, there have been a few articles, chefs, and cookbooks recently letting you know that it’s okay not to hate your microwave. I learned it’s great for cooking corn on the cob (and saves you from pulling off all those annoyingly stringy strands of corn silk), as well as quickly cooking beets and hard squash if you don’t feel like turning on the oven for an hour. Barbara Kafka roasted eggplant in it and famously made risotto in the microwave. Although I still make risotto on the stovetop, I’ll often fire up the micro-onde for making bacon, since it’s less messy and produces very tasty strips of bacon.

Like the French, Vallery isn’t a stickler for homemade tart dough so if you want to shave some time off making this quiche, go for it. And if you’re not into the cheese, that can be omitted as well. But I followed the advice of Lomas and Lenôtre, and loved this quiche just as it is. If you give it a go, I think you’ll agree.

Quiche Lorraine

Adapted from Life is What You Bake It by Vallery Lomas
I made a few changes to the recipe, adding more bacon (sorry/not sorry), and dicing the cheese, rather than grating it, so there would be little pockets of cheese inside the eggy custard. I'm not convinced it made a difference so you could do it either way. Vallery doesn't turn up her nose at store-bought crusts, and she's not alone; pre-made tart dough is very popular in France and every supermarket has several varieties, including tart pastry (pâte sucrée), pie pastry (pâte brisée), and puff pastry (pâte feuilletée), sold in rolls, like aluminum foil. I don't buy them regularly, but feel free to use one if you wish. I do recommend using an all-butter one.
If you'd prefer to cook the bacon in a skillet, cut thick-cut bacon or pancetta into bite-sized cubes and fry them in a skillet until crisp. Drain them on a paper towel, tip most of the oil out of the pan (reserve about a tablespoon in it), and use the bacon fat for frying the shallots or onions, rather than butter.
Although Vallery makes it a point to note this is baked in a cake pan, which is how they are often cooked in bakeries in France, if you only have a relatively deep 9-inch (23cm) tart or pie pan or dish, you could use that instead.
Course Main Course
Cuisine French

For the crust

  • 1 1/4 cups (170g) flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 8 tablespoons (4 ounces/115g) cold unsalted butter, cubed

For the quiche filling

  • 4 strips (200g) thick-cut bacon
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 medium (60g) shallots , peeled and minced (or one medium onion)
  • 3/4 cup (130g) finely cubed (or coarsely grated) Swiss-style cheese, such as Emmenthal, Comté, Gruyère (or cheddar)
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup milk, lowfat or whole
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in the bowl of a food processor, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. (The dough can also be made by hand in a bowl using a pastry blender.) Add the pieces of butter and mix on low/medium speed, or pulse, until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. If using a food processor or pastry blender, pulse it in the processor just a few times (or mix with the pastry blender) until the butter is in irregular dried chickpea-sized pieces.
  • Add the ice water and vinegar and continue to mix (or pulse a couple of times) just until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured countertop and gently pat the dough until it's in a rough rectangle about 1-inch (3cm) thick. Fold the dough over in half, then repeat two more times, patting the dough out until it's 1-inch/3cm thick and folding it over in half, for a total of three times. Wrap the dough in plastic or an eco-friendly alternative, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to three days.)
  • To roll and bake the crust, remove the dough from the refrigerator and if very firm, let rest a few minutes before rolling. On a lightly floured countertop, roll the dough to a 12-inch (31cm) circle. Brush off excess flour and fit the dough into a 9-inch (23cm) springform pan, easing it into the corners and making sure it evenly goes up the sides. The dough is forgiving so feel free to use your fingers to make sure the dough is even around the sides so there are no lower spots, as you want the custard layer you'll be pouring in later to be even. Chill the dough in the refrigerator or freezer for 30 minutes. (The dough can be refrigerated for 2-3 days, or frozen, if you'd like to do this step in advance.)
  • To bake the tart crust, preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC.) Line the dough inside of the cake pan with a large sheet of foil, easing the foil into the corners of the pan. Be sure to use a sheet of foil that's large enough to cover the dough, as well as all the way up to the top edges of the cake pan which will prevent the edges of the crust from getting too dark. Fill the foil with pie weights or dried beans and bake until the dough is partially cooked, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights and let the crust cool while you prepare the filling.
  • To make the filling, place the bacon on a dinner plate lined with paper towels. Place a paper towel over the bacon and cook in the microwave, turning the bacon over midway during cooking, until it's cooked through and relatively crisp. (The French don't usually crisp bacon, but prefer it on the chewy side.) Thick-cut bacon will take about 6 minutes. (If you use thin bacon, reduce the cooking time.) Uncover and let cool.
  • While the bacon is cooking, heat the butter in a small skillet and sauté the chopped shallots until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  • Crumble or cut the bacon into bite-size pieces and evenly strew the pieces into the baked tart shell, along with the cheese and shallots.
  • in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne. Pour the custard into the tart shell and bake until the filling is just barely set, 35-40 minutes. The center should still jiggle when you shake the pan gently and the top will be light golden brown. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove the sides of the cake pan and serve.

Notes

Serving: The quiche can be served warm or at room temperature. It's typically served with something like a green salad or steamed green beans. 
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72 comments

    • Anita Iaconangelo

    When visiting France, where a good part of my time was spent salivating in pasty shops, I solved the masculine/femmine conundrum while constantly being corrected if a pastry was “une” or “un,” by simply ordering “deux!”
    BTW, I haven’t made quiche in ages, so will try this and am also curious about that bit of vinegar you add to your dough.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I don’t normally add vinegar to dough but it does help it from turning grey if you let it rest in the refrigerator for a day or two. (Which isn’t harmful.) But it also inhibits gluten formation somewhat, so some people add a dash to dough. King Arthur Baking did a more complete discussion of it here.

    • Sharon

    We love quiche and yes, we’re getting to the perfect time of year for it. Hubby much prefers leeks but I’ll give the shallots a try next time. There’s a joke involving George Bush and mispronunciation that comes up every time we make it, too!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I worked in a restaurant a while back as a waiter and a customer ordered the “quickie” on the menu. We had a good chuckle over that!

    • Carol Gillott

    What is it about lawyers? They become such good bakers? Quiche is a layered affair like the French language in the links you provided Buying a part, just out of the oven for lunch in a boulangerie is better than buying Picard’s not very good tartes salée imho.

    • Sarah

    I worked in a restaurant where people routinely ordered the “kawnch jumbo” (conch gumbo).

    What’s that you say, you’re tipping? Well, I’ve got that jumbo coming right up —

    • Marianne

    The reference to quiche not being a masculine dish stems from the 1982 book, “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche” Bruce Feirstein’s tongue-in-cheek commentary on all things considered “not manly”. Really a slam on a dish loved by so many folks, men included!

    • Fran @ G’day Souffle

    When I was a student at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, we made the pastry doing the ‘sabler’ method, where you rub the butter and flour together between your palms until it resembles sand. Your method certainly does save some time and it looks delicious (although I do prefer using the quiche pan with the ridges on the side).

    • David Kellett

    There was an old joke when I was a kid in the 80s.
    Q How do you know you’ve had gay burglars?
    A Because your flat has been tidied up and there is a quiche in the oven when you get home.
    Alas this gay household missed out on the tidy bit of the stereotype but I often make quiches of various kinds :-)

    • Carol

    Was that my grandmother? We went out to dinner once and she ordered the shrimp quickie. We were dying.

    • PF

    Invest in a flan ring, a packet of parchment sheets and a sheet pan. It’s a game changer for quiche and tarts, eliminating troublesome fluted tart pans and spring form pans.

    • Northeastern food fanatic

    What happened to your knife?

    • Gloria Drummond

    I use Ina Garten’s pie crust which is made in a food processor. Her recipe for 2 9” crusts can be divided into 6 6” crusts. Since I live alone, I form those 6 crusts into flat balls and freeze. One is perfect for a small quiche. (6” Anchor Hocking glass pie dish.)For the quiche I use 1/3 of Julia Child’s basic recipe…1 egg, 2/3 cup cream, etc. Pretty much like the one you have here. I like both bacon and cheese and this is a great quick supper for one.

    1/3 of any pie filling makes a 6” pie.

    • liz

    I’ve done the same, Anita! Problem solved…

    • Matthew Guedry

    Thanks for mentioning that the best laundry detergent is Vanish. I used it recently on old bed linens that had been stored in a cave in the 16eme for 2 years during the pandemic and to my surprise, they now look incredible. By the way, I own several of your cookbooks and use them regularly for reference!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks! I learned about Vanish via friends in the US who told me about Oxy-Clean, which is the equivalent. It really does get out stains well.

    • Denise

    David, what is your opinion on using cubed ham instead and if they should be browned up a bit first. I’m wondering if it will end up lackluster or if ham is commonly used in quiche?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      People do use cubed ham in quiche but I find bacon is more flavorful, but you could swap it out with ham.

    • Kerrie Cresswell

    Love quiche and have raised 3 sons that love it too.
    Coincidence, tonight we had Barbara Kafka purple cabbage risotto for dinner, cooked in microwave. It can still be found on web from 2007.
    Middle son left home for uni. Came home with revelation that risotto didn’t always have cabbage.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I tried the risotto in the microwave, but like melting chocolate, I like to see the progress and monitor it as it goes. But she was really responsible for giving the microwave ‘cred’ as a cooking tool and I know people, such as you, who swear by the technique. There are new books coming out from David Chang & Matt Rodbard and Daniel Holzman that also lean on the microwave for cooking certain foods that should be interesting reading.

    • Catherine

    Could this be made with puff pastry?
    Thanks for any thoughts!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Yes, but it won’t be as firm since the puff pastry will absorb the liquid/custard more easily, so I’d stick with this dough.

    • Stephanie W

    Spring form pan is brilliant and will solve my height issues. I also look forward to serving it this way. I had considered a tart pan but it’s height is way to small for what I want.

    My ingredients are the same with a few differences:
    2 C cream
    1 C Gruyere, chunked
    1/4 C Reggiano, grated
    The rest the same but no cayenne.

    To control crust over browning when crimped in a pie pan, I now freeze the dough in the pie pan prior to adding ingredients and do not blind bake. It worked.

    Unrelated, I love fresh corn but cannot eat it if it’s been picked long enough that it’s sugar turned to starch or if it’s been microwaved. It’s incomparable taste wants it cooked really soon after picking and in a fairly shallow amount of boiling water to which nothing is added, lid on for less than 5 minutes. Most of the strings can be removed while shucking the leaves. If that isn’t good enough, cut the kernels off and sauté them in butter with or w/out chopped onions and orange peppers. A few strings is a tiny price for the exquisite taste of fresh corn in season, not from a grocery store. ❤️

    • Susan

    As long as we’re talking modern cooking appliances, it may be worth noting the air fryer also works great for bacon! Possibly faster than the microwave.
    Also…any idea why the quiche became ubiquitous while the tarte flambee never jumped the border of Alsace?

    • Marcey

    Is it still Quiche Lorraine without the meat or does that make it something else altogether?

    • Karen

    Not really part of this post, but I cook corn on the cob on the grill the same way as your microwave recipe, but I soak the ears in cold water for about 20 minutes to keep the husk from burning up

    • John

    I fell in love with the Alsatian quiche
    at Convivial restaurant when I lived in Washington DC. It was served not as a pie wedge but rectangular, about two inches wide and about five inches long. I’ve tried to replicate it but so far, but the challenge is the crust. I don’t have a good baking dish for it and it tends to overcook. The filling is delish. Of course, I’ll keep trying.

    • Valerie

    Microwaved bacon: does this cause a greasy mess on the inside of the oven?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I’ve not had that problem as the paper towel absorbs what the bacon throws off, so that’s been my experience.

    • Gail

    I am still looking for the salmon quiche sold in patisserie shops. I was blowing away by the beautiful salmon delicacies in the local patisseries. Any history on this? And… if anyone has a recipe for the salmon quiche I will be forever in your Debt”

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      You could just swap out the bacon with smoked salmon (cut in little pieces, in whatever quantity looks reasonable to you) in this recipe, and instead of the Swiss-style cheese, add some goat cheese or feta, and perhaps some freshly chopped dill. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!

    • Mary K.

    The use of a cake pan instead of a tart pan makes me think back to Julia Child’s instructions for making quiche as written in her 1961 Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Back then, not many Americans had tart pans or flan rings and Julia didn’t want that keep one from making quiche, so she shows how to use a standard American cake pan of the day — one that had straight sides and a removable bottom (like French tart pans). Those cake pans are now “vintage,” but companies like Magic Line make cake pans with removable bottoms — they’re called cheesecake pans.
    This quiche made me hungry!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Those “cheesecake” pans were pretty great and I nearly forgot about them (thanks for mention them!) Likely the availability of springform pans, in America, Europe, and elsewhere, made it easier to suggest people use a springform pan but I used to use that removable bottom pans and loved them. I did a quick search and see Fat Daddio makes one. It was hard to track down the Magic Line/Parrish cheesecake pans but I found there here and here.

      Thanks for sending me down the rabbit hole of cheesecake pans! ; )

    • Patricia

    I couldn’t resist your recipe. I barely made it through the afternoon thinking about putting this quiche together. The pastry is in the oven now and all the fixin’s are all ready. I love a straight forward recipe for anything Frenchie. Thank you. The other recipe I have repeated a million times is crispy tofu. I just love it.

    • patricia

    It turned out just great… too great because I ate too much of it. Thanks again for a great recipe.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Happy you liked it too! We had trouble keeping away from it as well.

    • Nancy

    That is the meatiest bacon I have ever seen!

    • Anna

    I love quiches, I have made it a tradition to make Thomas Keller’s mushroom quiche and your caramel chocolate tart for every holiday and celebration (quiche lorraine less frequently nowadays for health reasons ).

    • Margaret

    “Back in New York, while she was a practicing attorney during the week, Vallery was perfecting her macaron skills and launched a macron business where she made, and delivered, 1500 macarons at a time, on weekends.”

    Launching a “macron” business gave me a morning giggle.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Wouldn’t that be…interesting! ; )

    • Ambalika

    Why don’t you make videos I have started wearing spectacles and I can’t read all the detailed instructions easily

    • Lori

    No spatter bacon: place medium thick cut bacon on parchment paper on a baking sheet with sides in 400F oven on middle rack for 15 minutes. Drain on paper towel. The bacon cooks perfectly and the oven stays clean since the paper absorbs the bacon fat. When cooled, the oily parchment paper goes in the organic recycling bin to make compost.

    • Dee

    Ambalika, if you are reading on an iPad, you can “pinch out” to make the text larger.

    • Telly

    My quiche recipe is similar to this one, but I add 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce to my filling. In my opinion, it really adds to the flavor of any quiche.

    • Terry S.

    This looks great. I just made your pear and blue cheese quiche this week. I was thrilled to see you use the micro-onde for bacon. I thought I was alone in this practice. I agree it makes for great bacon. I have burnt more bacon in skillets that I like to admit!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Glad you like that one too, from My Paris Kitchen.

      Yes – the microwave is a game-changer for certain things. When cooking cubes of bacon I do use a skillet, but for rashers or strips, I call my microwave into play.

    • Frank Ball

    Sharon: SO EAGER to know the George Bush joke involving Quiche. (Bush and I are fellow Texans; I played in the band during many of his local addresses.) Frank

    • Susan Riggs

    Oh my, I do love quiche (and a quickie for that matter!)
    Now, to find someone who makes it for me….

    • Stephanie

    I’m curious, have you found American style bacon in France? What is it called in French? Thanks!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      They sell it at Marks & Spencer food stores and I’ve seen it at the supermarkets. It may have been this. (The ones at M&S were better, though.)

    • Alyce Morgan

    Adore the idea of the springform pan and it does evoke tasty memories of quiche I spied in the French patisseries! I agree about how good your bacon looks–may try and suss out some meatier product in CO where ours is all streak!! Thanks.

    • Rory Rosszell

    Sounds delicious. Although no doubt considered sacrilegious by most, I often throw in some greens (spinach, broccoli, or asparagus) to give it a little more flavour and texture. I guess most would no longer consider it a quiche “Lorraine”.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      There are a lot of types of quiche/quiches out there and vegetables figure prominently into some, such as spinach-mushroom, broccoli, etc. Quiche Lorraine has evolved over the years but with vegetables, it veers out of the “Lorraine” category…but they’re delicious too!

    • Marsi

    I always brush a spoonful of Dijon mustard on the bottom of the tart dough before filling it. Really gives it an interesting flavor hit, quite subtle — noticeably absent if you skip it.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      That’s a nice touch. I do that with tomato tarts!

    • David H Currier

    Made the quiche. Loved it! I think Costco thick bacon was a bit salty. Not your fault, of course. I got introduced to you about a year ago. Now I have 4 of your books and one on order. I read every page, every word of My Paris Kitchen. I’ve done my Vespers in Drinking French. Tipsy evening! Merci bien! And I will conquer ever recipe of Perfect Scoop before March! I’m waiting for fresh pears to arrive in Hawaii to make the Roquefort & honey ice cream!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Next time if your bacon is too salty (Costco is a pretty big national brand so surprised that theirs is too salty…) but sometimes people poach bacon in hot water for a minute or two to remove some of the salt. Glad you’re enjoying My Paris Kitchen…and Drinking French too!

    • TomK

    Regarding using puff pastry, as David points out a custard of cream/milk gets absorbed, so the pastry is soggy. However, there’s a recipe in the Gourmet Cookbook that uses eggs and crème fraîche for a custard that is thick enough to not wet the pastry and sets velvety smooth.

    • Jen Banbury

    I love and admire your writing but must point out that the word is “stickler” not “sticker.”

    Fixed! : )
    -dl

    • Shannon

    Lorraine (Lothringen) was German when the quiche first came on the scene, so naturally it was invented in Germany!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I heard this second-hand but apparently some older French people born in and around Alsace still have “Germany” listed on their birth certificates and they had a dickens of a time trying to get it changed to France. #administration #bureaucracy

    • Alan Russell

    Thanks David, I just made this for lunch and it was delicious! Quite surprised how just those three folds enhanced the lamination and flakiness of the pastry.
    The main problem I encountered was stopping myself from going in for 2nds/3rds….

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Happy you liked it. I had a hard time resisting it too!

    • David Noble

    Hello
    Long time lurker, love everything you post. Curious why the apple cider vinegar in your pastry, what does it “do”
    thank you
    d

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      It prevents the dough from discoloring if you leave it in the refrigerator for a few days, which is harmless but some people mind that. Some say it also inhibits gluten resulting in a flakier crust. I don’t normally use it but do use it here. You can read more about vinegar in pie crusts here.

    • Papersitter

    Well. I made this tonight. My crust was a little wonky; shrunk a bit and not completely even around all sizes (I think my springform was a little too large). But oh my word this was delicious! I’m not great at making crust but this was easy and I’m looking forward to mastering it. Thank you, David!

    • David Noble

    thank you

    • Angela

    I can’t wait to make the quiche this weekend.

    • Morgan

    I made this quiche last night for a quick dinner. I used a premade crust (because that’s my lifestyle at the moment) and 1/2 & 1/2 instead of heavy cream. It worked like a literal dream. It was perfection and I intend on putting it into rotation. Thank you for this recipe.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Glad it worked out! There’s no shame in using shortcuts as not everyone has the same time or inclination to do everything. As mentioned, the French often use pre-made crusts and there’s a selection of brands in every supermarché. It makes it easy to have a meal on the table – although much of the time they don’t prebake the crusts, which saves another extra step.

    • Pam

    Interesting, I’ve independently been on a quiche rut lately. Unfortunately I can’t digest dairy very well, so had to make substitutions. Also, made 2- 7″ quiches from a recipe for one 9″ springform recipe (i.e., both crust and custard are halved for a single 7″ springform quiche). Use vegan butter (earth balance), and did not use vinegar in crust; it got gray after 24 hours in the refrig, but the gray was gone after baking. For the first quiche I used full fat coconut milk + cashew-based vegan sour cream (approx 75% coconut milk, 25% cashew sour cream). It was good, but I baked at too high a temp–custard was a wee bit scrambled. Next was just full fat coconut milk, and to avoid an obvious coconut flavor I used 1/2 the volume (i.e., instead of 1.5c for the 7″ I used 3/4c coconut milk) but baked at a lower temp. No sign of scrambling, no obvious coconut flavor, but denser than if I had used 1.5c of liquid. I blind-baked the crusts of both quiches, too. Fun! And tasty!

    • French chap

    It’s 2:40 am in Paris and i’m hungry… In my native region of Burgundy, we are quite conservative about cuisine and my mother tend to follow what is said to be the original recipe which is quite simpler : spread the dough in the pie pan, prick the dough with a fork, put directly the non-fried dices of smoked bacon, pour the eggs whisked with the fresh cream, season with salt and pepper and put in the oven. This is how it is described in the infamous cookbook “Je sais cuisiner” first written in 1932 by Ginette Mathiot, mine being the 1965 edition that my mother received from her mother and then passed on to me… my edition is much older than me :) Back to the quiche, only sometimes we add cheese (Comté or nothing as it comes from our regional neighbors Franche-Comté) but as much as we love cheese, I tend to think without it the quiche can be more airy and the flavor of the fresh cream is not overridden by the cheese. I like a pinch of Muscade also, onions are more likely to change completely the taste and lose the sublime of simplicity in my opinion. But again every variation of quiche is likely to be a delight. Bravo for your blog, it is like “the quiche lorraine of the culinary blogs” ! (weird award I admit)

A

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