Tall Quiche Shell

Name: Tall Quiche Shell
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour (you can use whole grain, but softer wheat is better here); 8 oz chilled unsalted butter, cut into ¼ inch cubes; 1 tsp kosher salt; ⅓ cup ice water

This is a tall quiche shell as used in quiches served at Thomas Keller's restaurant, Bouchon. You can find the full version in his book, Bouchon.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (you can use whole grain, but softer wheat is better here)
8 oz chilled unsalted butter, cut into ¼ inch cubes
1 tsp kosher salt
⅓ cup ice water

Steps

Combine the salt and half the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Add the butter, and mix on medium speed until the butter blends into the flour.
Add the rest of the flour, and mix for a few seconds on low speed.
Add the ice water and mix just until blended. You don't want to develop gluten here—you just want nice butter layers.
Remove the dough from the mixer. If desired, make a few random folds of it with your hand, not kneading but creating some layers that might flake during baking.
Pat dough into an 8 inch disk, wrap in tightly in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put the quiche ring on top
Roll out the dough evenly until it's 14 inches in diameter and about 3/16 inch thick. A thinner shell can be done, but it will tear more easily, and patching tears is tricky. You can generously dust with flour as you're rolling.
Loosely roll the dough around your rolling pin, and center it over the quiche ring. Carefully working in a circle, tuck in the dough to make an even-bottomed, even-walled shell. Wrap the excess dough around the outside of the ring and press it down there, but keep it thick around the top of the ring. This will keep the dough from sagging or tearing around the top as it bakes. This step is the tricky one, so take your time and tuck the shell well into all the gaps, patching it smoothly anywhere it tears and pressing it even wherever there are thick folds. Along the outside of the ring, cut any dough that reaches down more than 1.25 inches. You can use this to patch any tears later.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 375 °F.
Line the shell with parchment paper, and fill with baking beans or anything heavy to weigh it down, like uncooked rice. If you use baking beans, it takes a lot, so you can put fewer beans in the middle and push them up against the sides.
Bake for 30–35 minutes until the parts of the crust that are showing on the outside are nice and golden brown.
Remove the parchment and weights, and patch any tears in the shell with the reserved dough from before. Be careful not to burn yourself on the hot ring.
Bake for another 15–20 minutes until the bottom is golden brown as well. Here, you can patch again, but take time to smooth the new dough into the dough below it or the patch won't hold very well.
Cool completely, and use as directed in your recipe.

More recipes with flour or butter

Adapted from “Tall Quiche Shell” in the Wikibooks Cookbook by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Reformatted for this site; this page's recipe text is shared under the same license.

Steps

Combine the salt and half the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add the butter, and mix on medium speed until the butter blends into the flour.

Add the rest of the flour, and mix for a few seconds on low speed.

Add the ice water and mix just until blended. You don't want to develop gluten here—you just want nice butter layers.

Remove the dough from the mixer. If desired, make a few random folds of it with your hand, not kneading but creating some layers that might flake during baking.

Pat dough into an 8 inch disk, wrap in tightly in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put the quiche ring on top

Roll out the dough evenly until it's 14 inches in diameter and about 3/16 inch thick. A thinner shell can be done, but it will tear more easily, and patching tears is tricky. You can generously dust with flour as you're rolling.

Loosely roll the dough around your rolling pin, and center it over the quiche ring. Carefully working in a circle, tuck in the dough to make an even-bottomed, even-walled shell. Wrap the excess dough around the outside of the ring and press it down there, but keep it thick around the top of the ring. This will keep the dough from sagging or tearing around the top as it bakes. This step is the tricky one, so take your time and tuck the shell well into all the gaps, patching it smoothly anywhere it tears and pressing it even wherever there are thick folds. Along the outside of the ring, cut any dough that reaches down more than 1.25 inches. You can use this to patch any tears later.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 °F.

Line the shell with parchment paper, and fill with baking beans or anything heavy to weigh it down, like uncooked rice. If you use baking beans, it takes a lot, so you can put fewer beans in the middle and push them up against the sides.

Bake for 30–35 minutes until the parts of the crust that are showing on the outside are nice and golden brown.

Remove the parchment and weights, and patch any tears in the shell with the reserved dough from before. Be careful not to burn yourself on the hot ring.

Bake for another 15–20 minutes until the bottom is golden brown as well. Here, you can patch again, but take time to smooth the new dough into the dough below it or the patch won't hold very well.

Cool completely, and use as directed in your recipe.

More recipes with flour or butter

Adapted from “Tall Quiche Shell” in the Wikibooks Cookbook by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Reformatted for this site; this page's recipe text is shared under the same license.