When it comes to baking, the first hurdle to cross is the technique, post which you can deal with the recipe. As an enthusiastic home-baker I am always looking out to try new techniques. After conquering cakes, the next on my list was a quiche. Every aspiring baker has heard of the Quiche Lorraine, and so I too wanted to experiment with pastry. Getting a flaky pastry is an art that mostly only the professional bakers get to boast about. But I was determined to learn.
The first few attempts were mainly targeted to perfect my pastry making skills. I started off with kneading the dough like the dough for chapatti. It works fine, but the flakiness was as far as Pluto from Earth. It was only when I actually saw a cooking show on TLC that I learnt the delicate art of cutting the butter with flour, and gently bringing it together and then stepping back to check if it stays like an obedient dog.
While I have finally learnt to get it right, it is only fair to pass on the knowledge. The secret to a flaky crust is to get miniscule portions of fat amidst the flour. Yes, that!
So here is a step by step technique guide to help you get a nice flaky crust for your quiche.
Dough Pastry (8″ pan, Serves 4-6)
Ingredients
200 gms Flour
100 gms Butter
3-4 few cubes of ice and water
Method
1) Cold butter. Solid state. You want a flaky crust you’ve got to follow the rules.
2) As far as possible, use your fingers to cut the butter with the flour. It gives you a better control and your can stop as soon as you reach the bread crumbs like texture. Using a stand mixer is fine, but you might tend to over mix. What happens if you over mix is, because of the Indian climate, the butter tends to soften and gradually will disappear into the dough. You will have just a dough ball and not crumbs.
3) When you’ve reached crumb like state, use chilled water and bring it together. Add a tbsp of chilled water at a time, you will need around 3-4 tbsps. Just bring it together, don’t over mix it. The dough should just come together.
4) Refrigerate. Atleast 15-20 mins. The tiny butter particles are what we are concerned about here and keeping the dough cold will ensure the butter doesn’t melt after all that handling.
5) Flatten it a bit and roll the dough between two sheets of parchment. Do not, I repeat do not roll it like a chapatti to and fro. Avoid rolling multiple times. Just with long strides, roll forward in a direction away from you, lift, roll in a direction towards you. 3-4 times should be enough to get the dough stretched enough to cover an 8” quiche pan.
6) You will find steaks of white in the dough, that is the butter. Streaks are good, if you don’t find them, the butter has melted and mixed with the dough.
7) Roll the dough to 1/4″ thickness
8) Gently invert the dough to cover the pan. Trim off the excess from the edges.
7) Blind bake it. Blind baking is the process of baking the crust without the filling. To prevent the dough to puff up because of the butter between the dough, spread cling film and add uncooked grains or rice, as weight, on it. Blind bake for 10 mins at 180 degrees C.
8) Remove it from the oven, let it cool slightly, add the filling and bake again till done.
Recipe: Beetroot and Feta Quiche
Dough Pastry
200 gms Flour
100 gms Butter
3-4 few cubes of ice and water
Filling
1 tsp olive oil
1tbsp butter
140 gms/ one large onion sliced
250 gms beetroot (3-4 beetroots par boiled, peeled and grated, measured in gms after grating)
1 tsp sugar
½ tbsp salt
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 chilly chopped (you can use 1 tsp black pepper powder instead of chilly)
2 ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
Feta crumbled (approx 3 tbsp)
½ cup cream (I used Amul)
2 eggs
Coriander for garnishing
Method:
- Boil the beetroot for around 10 mins, allow it to cool, peel and grate.
- In a pan (on heat), add the olive oil and butter.
- When the butter melts, add the onions and cook till the onions soften and become translucent in colour.
- Add the grated beetroot, sugar, salt, Dijon mustard, chilly and balsamic vinegar and cook for 5-7 mins.
- Allow the mixture to cool.
- Once cooled down to room temperature, and this filling to the quiche crust that has been blind baked.
- Add crumbled Feta over the beetroot mixture.
- Beat the eggs with cream and add it to the quiche preparation.
- Bake at 180 degree C for 35 mins.
- After it has baked, allow it to cool completely.
- Garnish with coriander and serve.
Culinary Zeal 