Quiche Lorraine

Line a 24 cm tin with the pastry, prick the base, chill 30 minutes, then blind-bake at 190°C for 20 minutes with beans and 8 minutes without.

💡 The blind bake is not optional. A wet custard poured into raw pastry steams it from above, and the base stays pale and sodden however long you bake it.

Fry the lardons in a dry pan until the fat runs and the edges crisp, then drain them on paper.

Whisk the eggs, yolks, cream, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper — just until combined, not frothy.

💡 Do not whip air in. Bubbles in the custard puff up in the oven and collapse into a pitted, spongy surface as it cools.

Scatter the bacon over the warm pastry case and pour the custard in, stopping 5 mm below the rim.

Bake at 160°C for 35–40 minutes. Take it out while the centre still wobbles like a set jelly — it firms as it cools.

💡 A quiche baked until the middle is firm in the oven is a quiche that will be rubbery on the plate. Trust the wobble.

Rest 20 minutes and serve warm, not hot.