I like to read cookbooks and cooking magazines. An especially enticing article in Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine got me temporarily obsessed with making quiche. I even bought a deep quiche/tart pan specifically for this purpose. I did the math and a 1/12 slice of this deliciousness was ~540 calories (including both creme fraiche and heavy cream!). As Prue Leith would say, though, it was worth every one of those 540 calories.

However, Prue would also have noticed and disapproved of the soggy bottom at the center of the quiche. As instructed in the recipe, the tart pan (with foil and on a sheet pan because of leakage) was put directly onto the pizza stone that lives in my oven, but still yielded this soggy center. The next step would be to partially blind bake the crust, and/or place the tart pan with foil (no sheet pan) directly on the stone.

Over the next few weeks I did make subsequent versions that cut back on the cream and creme fraiche (increasing milk), that tried my own pie crust recipe, and that tried my new Breville oven. But, the learning from all this was:

• Don’t use the Breville, because the bottom didn’t get hot enough (needs the stone)
• Don’t use my pie crust (too fragile)
• It’s fine to swap out the richer dairy for milk
• DO blind bake for 15-20 minutes, with LOTS of pie weights
• Place the tart pan directly on the stone, but with foil for leakage (no sheet pan)