Explore the world · Recipe · Lorraine · Reference page

Quiche lorraine

Name: Quiche lorraine
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 125 g plain flour; 60 g cold butter, diced; 1 pinch salt (about 2.5 g); 50 ml cold water; 150 g smoked streaky bacon (poitrine fumée), in thin slices or short strips; 10 g butter, for frying the bacon; 400 ml crème fraîche or double cream (Escoffier: 4 decilitres of cream); 3 piece small eggs (or 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk); 1 pinch fine salt; 1 pinch nutmeg and white pepper, optional; 20 g butter in small pieces, to dot the top

A shortcrust case lined with lightly fried bacon and filled with cream and egg, baked until barely set and eaten warm. Escoffier's version has no cheese: he calls Gruyère optional and outside the local principle.

Servings: 6
Preparation: 30 min
Cooking: 50 min
Resting: 45 min
Total: 2 h 5
Difficulty: Moderate

Equipment

Tart tin or flan ring 20 cm across with fairly high sides (about 3 cm), buttered
Rolling pin; baking paper and baking beans for blind baking
Frying pan; mixing bowl and whisk

To drink & serve with

Alsace
A dry white from eastern France: a Côtes de Toul gris from Lorraine, or a dry Alsace Pinot Blanc or Riesling.
A green salad is the usual accompaniment.

Substitutions

Smoked bacon → Unsmoked streaky bacon or pancetta. Without bacon the dish is no longer a quiche lorraine.
Crème fraîche → Double cream, or half cream and half whole milk for a lighter, softer custard.

Common mistakes

Adding grated cheese and onions: common, but not part of the local recipe Escoffier records.
Overbaking until the centre is firm: the custard turns grainy and watery.
Cutting it hot: the filling runs.

Storage & reheating

Best warm on the day. Cool quickly, refrigerate within 2 hours and eat within 2 days; reheat gently at 160 °C.

Safety

The custard should be set at the edge and only just trembling in the centre; it reaches well above 70 °C when baked this way. Cool leftovers within 2 hours. Allergens: gluten (flour), egg and milk (butter, cream).

Allergens

Gluten · Egg · Milk

Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

The local principle

Escoffier's Guide culinaire puts the quiche à la lorraine among the hot hors d'œuvre. He lines a fluted tart tin, or a flan ring of 18–20 cm with a fairly high rim, with ordinary shortcrust (pâte à foncer), covers the base with thin slices of blanched bacon lightly fried in butter, and fills it with 4 decilitres of cream, 3 small eggs and a pinch of salt, dotted with butter. It bakes 30–33 minutes in a moderate oven and is cut into triangles when lukewarm. One quiche of that size, he says, serves ten.

He allows slices of Gruyère between the bacon, but calls the addition optional and "outside the local principle". Many modern recipes add cheese or onion; his does not. The same custard on a slice of ham, baked in tartlet cases, gives his petites quiches au jambon.

[1]

Cream, egg and a crisp base

The filling is a custard with a high ratio of cream to egg, so it sets soft and trembling rather than firm. Bake it gently: overcooked egg custard tightens and squeezes out water, which makes it grainy and wet. Take the quiche out when the centre still wobbles; it finishes setting as it cools.

Escoffier's pastry is 500 g flour, 250 g butter, 10 g salt and 2 decilitres water, worked by fraisage, and he takes 200 g of paste for a 20 cm flan ring. He fills the raw case; most home cooks today bake the case blind first, because domestic ovens have less bottom heat than a professional range. The recipe here does that, and says so.

[1]

How it connects

Place

origin Lorraine In preparation

Wine region

pairs with Alsace