Quiche Lorraine — with Bacon, Cream and Gruyère, Crisp Base
Shortcrust into the tin, weighted with baking paper and dried pulses, blind bake 15 minutes. Fry the bacon, onto the base, cheese over, pour a custard of 3 eggs, 2 dl cream and 1 dl milk over. 30 minutes at 180 °C until the custard barely wobbles in the centre. The blind bake is the whole difference from a soggy base.
Quiche Lorraine is the French cousin of the Swiss Wähe — more cream, more bacon, no vegetables, and a base that must be crisp. That is exactly where it fails at home: the custard softens the raw pastry. Fifteen minutes of blind baking fixes that for good. With shop-bought pastry it is done in an hour, best lukewarm, and cold the next day it is the perfect picnic.
Ingredients
- 1 piece Shortcrust pastry (ready-rolled round, about 320 g)
- 200 g Diced bacon
- 1 piece Onion (optional)
- 150 g Gruyère (grated)
Custard
- 3 pieces Eggs
- 2 dl Double cream
- 1 dl Milk
- ½ tsp Salt
- Pepper
- Nutmeg
Method
- 1
Blind bake
Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Lay the pastry with its paper into a 26 to 28 cm tin, press up the edge, prick the base with a fork. Lay a sheet of baking paper on the pastry and weigh down with dried pulses or rice. Bake 15 minutes, remove the paper and weights.
- 2
Bacon
Fry the bacon in a dry pan for 5 minutes until lightly crisp. If using, sweat the chopped onion for the last 3 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper.
- 3
Custard
Whisk the eggs with the cream, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg — just combine, do not beat until foamy. Turn the oven down to 180 °C.
- 4
Fill and bake
Spread the bacon over the pre-baked base, cheese over, pour the custard over. Bake 30 minutes until the custard is golden and barely wobbles in the centre. Stand 10 minutes, serve lukewarm.
Tips
- The quiche keeps three days in the fridge and is as good cold as warm — picnic, lunchbox, apéro in small pieces. Reheat at 160 °C for 10 minutes, never in the microwave.
- Keep the pulses for blind baking in a jar — they are no longer edible afterwards, but reusable for years. Without weights the base puffs up.
- Variations with the same custard: salmon and spinach, goat's cheese and tomatoes, leek and Gruyère, broccoli and feta. Always fry or blanch vegetables first.
What can I substitute?
Salmon in strips, unfried, on the base. Leek softened in butter — the vegetarian version, then it is no longer Lorraine.
Single cream is lighter; the custard sets a little less firmly. Crème fraîche adds tang and makes it creamier.
Comté is the French original. The oldest recipe from Lorraine had no cheese at all — just bacon, egg and cream.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from the ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the base of my quiche soggy?
The custard soaked into the raw pastry. The pastry must be blind baked 15 minutes with baking paper and weights so it is firm and sealed before the custard goes on. It also helps to bake on the lowest shelf, where the heat comes from below.
How do I tell when the quiche is done?
The top is golden and risen, and when you shake the tin only the centre wobbles slightly — like a set pudding. Baked completely firm, the custard turns dry and gets holes. It finishes setting as it cools.
What is the difference between a quiche and a Wähe?
The quiche has more cream and egg in the custard and a taller edge — creamier and richer. The Swiss Wähe is flatter, has a custard of milk and egg with flour, and almost always vegetables or fruit. Quiche Lorraine is just bacon, egg, cream.
Can I freeze quiche?
Yes, baked and cooled, in slices or whole, up to two months. Reheat from frozen in the oven at 160 °C for 20 minutes — the base crisps up again.
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