The word “quiche” refers to an open-faced tartlet that is filled with a custard that is typically garnished with vegetables, meat or fish.  Although “quiche” is typically identified with classical French cuisine, the dish originated in Germany and the word is a derivative of the German “Kuchen”, which means cake.

When preparing quiche, I use a flaky pie dough that is molded in a pie tin then “blind baked” until the pie dough is partially cooked.  Blind baking is the process of cooking a crust without the filling in order to strengthen it so it can ultimately hold a filling.  When blind baking a crust, I place parchment paper into the pie tin on top of the crust, and weigh dough down with beans or rice.  This is to prevent the crust from rising or bubbling.

For the quiche filling I use six eggs per quart of heavy cream and season with kosher salt, freshly ground white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.  It is baked at 350 degrees until completely set, usually around 25-35 minutes depending on the thickness, then chilled, sliced and reheated for service.

For this quiche I used my a favorite mold of mine, a four inch non-stick springform pan that was purchased from Sur la Table.  The portion sizes are perfect for petit appetizers.