We're Making This Ham & Cheese Quiche Recipe Just For The Crisp, Buttery Crust (2024)

FAQs

How do you make the bottom of a quiche crust crispy? ›

Sprinkle dried breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes, or other types of cereal, on the bottom crust before filling and baking in the oven.

The crispy, flaky crust is one of the best parts of a quiche. "But to achieve that tasty outer layer, you need to bake your naked crust a little before adding the egg mixture," says Zakari Davila, executive chef at Willa's in Tampa, Florida. This prevents it from getting soggy.

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.

Another tip is to run a chopstick around the quiche so the solid ingredients in the filling don't all sink to the bottom.

The fat melts when heated in the oven, and unless there is a filling to prop up the sides of the pie crust, it can slump. Another issue is billowing air pockets in the center. If you don't blind bake with weights, or poke holes into the bottom of the crust, the bottom of the crust can puff up.

Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.

Using too many eggs in the custard results in a quiche that rubbery and too firm when baked, while not using enough will prevent the custard from setting. Follow This Tip: Remember this ratio: 1 large egg to 1/2 cup of dairy.

Quiche Ratio: 1 large egg to 1/2 cup of dairy

You'll need to increase the amount of eggs and milk based on the size of your quiche, so knowing the basic ratio makes it really easy to scale up or down. For a standard 9-inch quiche: Use 3 large eggs (6 ounces) 1 1/2 cups of whole milk or cream (12 ounces)

In the normal cooking time of a quiche (20 to 30 minutes), the crust doesn't really get soggy from the filling, even if it is quite liquid, as is expected for quiche Lorraine. So, you can without problem cook your quiche without first blind-baking the crust.

The answer is, yes you can, which is a relief. You do need some fat in there to help it set, but you can get that from the cheese. Using just milk and eggs as the basis for the filling works perfectly well and I figure you are more likely to have these ingredients in, which is way more helpful.

What is the ratio for egg and milk when making quiche? ›

The key to a foolproof quiche is the ratio of eggs to liquid – 2:1. I used 3 eggs and 1 1/2 cups liquid ( a mix of whole milk and heavy cream) – this is enough for a deep dish crust. This is definitely a recipe to have in your repertoire. Consider it a keeper with endless filling possibilities!

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the quiche is cooked through and just slightly wobbly in the very center. Is milk better than heavy cream in quiche? Whole milk creates a nice texture to your quiche, but doing a combination of heavy cream and milk increases the fat content and creates a slightly richer texture.

Add flour to your filling: Adding a bit of flour to your quiche filling helps absorb moisture and stabilize things in general.

Excess moisture is one reason why quiches collapse in a watery pool on your plate. Vegetables and meats like ham give off tremendous amounts of water when they're cooked. Therefore, if you're using vegetables in your quiche, it's imperative that you cook them first.

If your quiche appears too watery to serve it could be because it was overbaked or underbaked, the egg to dairy ratio was not correct, the ingredients have too much liquid or it was baked on the wrong rack in the oven.

Wet fillings will produce a soggy quiche

These vegetables, while tasty, have a high water content when raw, which will weep into the quiche as it bakes.

You've spent time and effort putting the pastry together, so don't sell yourself short by skipping the final step—the egg wash for the pie crust. The truth is that cream and egg washes are a simple but vital step to improving the appearance and flavor of pies and other baked goods.

Your crust is pale and underbaked.

Easy! Just bake it some more. To ensure a bronzed, shiny crust, I like to give the pie a quick brush with eggwash before sending it back into the oven. Make sure your oven is hot enough: 425° F or 450° F is ideal.

What Can You Use Instead of Pie Weights? Instead of pie weights, you can use dried beans or rice, granulated sugar, popcorn kernels or steel ball bearings. If you are not using pie weights, the idea is to mimic what the pie weight does and to make sure that the alternative is oven-safe.