Quiche Lorraine
The original had no cheese and not even bacon: just bread dough, eggs, cream and butter. Lardons only arrived in the 19th century.
A pastry case filled with eggs, cream and smoked bacon, baked and sold by the slice in bakeries to eat warm or cold on the go.
What is Quiche Lorraine?
Quiche Lorraine is a savoury tart: a shortcrust pastry case filled with a custard of eggs and cream, with smoked bacon lardons scattered through it, baked until just set. It is sold by the slice in French bakeries and eaten warm or cold. The traditional version contains no cheese, and many French cooks regard cheese as an addition.
It comes from Lorraine in north-eastern France, and the word quiche is usually traced to the Lorraine Franconian form of the German word Kuchen, meaning cake. Early versions are often described as an egg-and-cream filling in a bread-dough base, with the bacon and the shortcrust case coming later, though the dates are not well documented. The shortcrust version below is the form most people know today.
How to make quiche Lorraine with homemade shortcrust pastry
Ingredients
- For the pastry: 200 g plain flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 100 g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, about 4 tablespoons (60 ml) ice-cold water, 1 egg yolk, beaten, for sealing the case
- For the filling: 200 g smoked bacon lardons (or thick-cut smoked streaky bacon, cut into strips), 4 large eggs, 300 ml double cream, 100 ml whole milk, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- Equipment: a 23 cm loose-bottomed tart tin, about 3 to 4 cm deep, baking paper and baking beans or dried rice
Method
- Make the pastry: rub the butter into the flour and salt with your fingertips until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Add the water a tablespoon at a time, mixing with a knife until it just comes together. Shape into a flat disc, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 200 °C (180 °C fan, gas 6) and put a baking tray on the middle shelf. Roll the pastry on a floured surface to about 3 mm thick and line the tin, pressing it into the corners and leaving the excess hanging over the edge. Prick the base with a fork and chill for 15 minutes.
- Blind bake: line the case with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake on the hot tray for 15 minutes, remove the paper and beans, and bake for a further 5 to 8 minutes until the base looks dry and pale golden. Brush the inside with the beaten egg yolk and return to the oven for 2 minutes to seal it. Trim the overhanging edge with a knife. Lower the oven to 180 °C (160 °C fan, gas 4).
- Fry the lardons in a dry pan over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes until golden and the fat has run. Drain on kitchen paper and scatter over the pastry case.
- Make the custard: whisk the eggs in a jug, then whisk in the cream, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg until just combined, without whipping in lots of air. That is 4 eggs to 400 ml of cream and milk, about 1 egg to 100 ml, which sets into a soft, sliceable custard.
- Put the tin on the hot baking tray in the oven, then pour the custard in until it comes just below the rim. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the filling is golden on top and set, with at most a slight wobble in the very centre.
- To check it is cooked, a knife pushed into the middle should come out clean. A thermometer in the centre should read at least 71 °C (160 °F). Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove and serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips
- Blind baking with an egg-yolk seal stops the custard soaking into the pastry and keeps the base crisp.
- Pour the custard in with the tin already on the oven shelf so you do not spill it, and so the pastry goes straight onto the hot tray.
- Do not overbake. If the custard puffs up a lot or cracks and weeps, it has gone too far, and the texture turns rubbery.
- Bacon is salty, so taste your lardons before deciding whether to add more salt to the custard. The recipe above uses only a little.
Regional versions
- Adding about 100 g of grated Gruyère or Emmental to the filling is very common outside France, though it is not part of the traditional recipe.
- Some cooks fry a finely sliced onion in the lardon fat and add it to the case, which is closer to the Alsatian tarte flambée style than to the Lorraine original.
- Using all cream and no milk (400 ml) makes a richer, softer custard.
- Make small tartlets in 8 cm tins. They bake in about 15 to 20 minutes.
Questions
What is quiche Lorraine?
A shortcrust tart filled with an egg and cream custard and smoked bacon lardons. The traditional version has no cheese.
Does quiche Lorraine have cheese?
Not in the traditional recipe. Cheese is a common addition, especially outside France, but it is a variation.
What is the ratio of eggs to cream for quiche?
About 1 large egg to 100 ml of cream and milk. This recipe uses 4 eggs with 400 ml of dairy for a 23 cm tin.
Do I need to blind bake the pastry?
Yes, for a crisp base. A wet custard in unbaked pastry tends to give a soggy bottom.
How do I know when a quiche is done?
The filling is set with only a slight wobble in the centre, a knife comes out clean, and the centre reads at least 71 °C (160 °F).
