Meat Lovers Quiche Recipe | Barbara Bakes (2024)

FAQs

Is heavy cream better than milk in quiche? ›

Heavy Cream and Milk – For the best tasting quiche, use a combination of whole milk and heavy cream. (Or simply use half-and-half.) Using just heavy cream produces an overly thick filling. Whole milk is great, but a combo of heavy cream and milk is better.

Blind Bake the Crust

This prevents it from getting soggy. Davila suggests blind baking your crust at 350 F for seven minutes, in addition to the overall baking time. Use professional pie weights to avoid bubbles in your crust, but any variety of raw dried beans poured into the crust would also work.

Use half-and-half as a 1:1 substitute for heavy cream. It can work nearly as well for bringing creamy texture and flavor to sauces, soups and stews, mashed potatoes, quiches, and casseroles. In a pinch, it can even be used for whipping. While you won't get stiff peaks, you can build volume if you work quickly.

As a general rule, you do need to blind bake when cooking a dish with wet fillings. For example, if you're making a quiche or frangipane, blind baking the crust first will help ensure the pastry case stays buttery and retains its crunch.

The best quiche ratio is 1 large egg to 1/2 cup of dairy. The ratio of the fat content from the dairy and the protein from the eggs determine the custard's final texture. The egg proteins bond to form a soft gel-like texture, while the dairy gives the quiche a creamy flavor.

If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.

Whether you serve it as an appetizer or a main dish, quiche can either be cooked ahead of time and served warm, cold, or at room temperature.

Blind Bake the Crust

One of the fool-proof ways to ensure a crisp bottom pie crust is to do what is called blind baking. This simply means that you bake the crust—either fully if you are adding a custard or cream that won't be cooked, or partially if the whole pie needs to bake—before adding the filling.

Poking holes allows steam to escape

The reason for this, as The Spruce Eats explains, is that unless you create a place for the steam to escape, it'll get trapped within the dough. As a result, the crust will puff up and cause your pie to warp from the bottom.

If your quiche appears watery it may just need to set for a little longer. The recipe may also contain too much dairy, so make sure that the recipe you are following has the ratio of 4 eggs to 1 cup dairy. The added ingredients could also contain too much moisture, so it is important to cook or drain additions.

What is a quiche without pastry called? ›

A frittata, sometimes called a crustless quiche, has no crust, and you can bake it directly in a pan or skillet.

If you're low on dairy ingredients, don't fret. Greek yogurt can substitute milk, sour cream and heavy cream. Milk: If you're short on milk, half and half or light cream, Greek yogurt can be used to make up for the difference.

Glass heats up gently and evenly, priming the pie for a consistent, but slightly slower bake than metal delivers—factor in additional baking time. It is also relatively inexpensive and light, which makes it the perfect in-between pie pan for anyone just building their cookware collection.

And yes, as you'll see, you should always prebake quiche crust to avoid a gummy pastry. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Roll out your homemade or purchased refrigerated dough into a 12-inch circle.

How Long Should I Bake Quiche? At 375F, it requires 25 minutes of baking time uncovered. At that point, you'll want to check things out because you don't want the crust to get too brown. If it's looking a bit well-done, cover it with aluminum foil and continue cooking for 10 more minutes.

Full-fat dairy products such as heavy whipping cream contain more of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K than low-fat or nonfat dairy. Also, your body absorbs fat-soluble vitamins better when you consume them with fat.

Milk contributes not only moisture but also structure due to its protein content. Replacing milk with heavy cream can introduce too much fat, potentially altering the texture and causing goods to become overly dense.

Milk can dilute the flavor of scrambled eggs, but adding crème fraîche or heavy whipping cream can bring out the depth of flavor you're trying to achieve. Additionally, milk is known for turning scrambled eggs into chewy chunks, while cream does a better job of holding everything together nicely.

Too little dairy, and your quiche will be dry instead of creamy.