Vallery Lomas' Quiche Lorraine Is What Brunch Dreams Are Made Of (2024)

• Recipes
• What To Make With
• Eggs

published Apr 22, 2022

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Vallery Lomas is a baking champ. After she was robbed of her win on The Great American Baking Show a few years ago, she turned lemons into lemon curd and built a dazzling culinary career. This led to her first cookbook, Life Is What You Bake It, which features towering biscuits, memorable cakes, decadent pies, and more.

When Lomas appeared on Live With Kelly and Ryan to promote the book, she prepared a quiche Lorraine that caught my attention. For one thing, she told me (yes, she was talking to me) to use a store-bought pie crust. Bless her. Then she said to bake it in a cake pan. I’m listening!

The quiche looked and sounded delicious, like an elevated but easy quiche Lorraine. I grabbed the recipe and the ingredients and got to work.

How to Make Vallery Lomas’ Quiche Lorraine

The recipe calls for a store-bought or homemade pie crust partially baked in a 9-inch cake pan or springform pan. You can follow the directions on the box, but Lomas recommends lining the unbaked crust with greased foil and filling with pie weights before baking until the edges are beginning to brown.

To make the filling, cook some pancetta or bacon until crispy and drain. Leave about a tablespoon of fat in the pan and add finely chopped shallots or onion and cook until translucent. Whisk together eggs, cream, whole milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne in a bowl.

Add the bacon, shallots or onion, and shredded Swiss or Gruyère cheese to the partially baked crust. Pour the egg mixture through a sieve (to ensure the filling is extra smooth) and into the crust. Bake until just set — the center should barely jiggle when shaken — 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

My Honest Review of Vallery Lomas’ Quiche Lorraine

I really enjoyed how flexible Lomas’ recipe was — offering the option of a homemade or store-bought crust, bacon or pancetta, shallots or onion, Swiss or Gruyère cheese. She even allows for an 8- or 9-inch cake pan and doesn’t require a springform. I tested this recipe twice — once with her homemade crust recipe and once with store-bought — and used bacon, onion, and Swiss for both tests.

I have zero complaints about this quiche Lorraine recipe. Truly, no notes. The filling has the ideal ratio of bacon to onion to cheese, is well-seasoned, and results in a smooth custard. It’s not too rich but certainly has plenty of flavor. And because the quiche is baked in a metal pan, the crust gets nice and crispy and the filling is a bit taller than a quiche baked in a standard pie pan.

While Lomas certainly has a nice pie crust recipe, it’s a bit fussy if you’re not used to making homemade pie dough. And in all honesty, I couldn’t tell a big difference between homemade and store-bought crust in this quiche, likely thanks to the flavorful filling. While I’d certainly advocate for making your own crust when making a more delicate pie or a double-crust creation, feel free to go for the store-bought option for this recipe.

A Few Tips for Making Vallery Lomas’ Quiche Lorraine

1. Use a store-bought crust. There’s no need to go all-out for this one. I couldn’t really tell a difference in this recipe, so I suggest you save yourself some time and effort and use a store-bought crust as Lomas suggests.

2. Choose your cheese. While I made this recipe with the classic Swiss cheese, I’m looking forward to trying it with Gruyère or even cheddar.

3. Work ahead. If you want to get some prep out of the way, you can par-bake the crust, crisp the bacon, and cook the shallots up to a day ahead of time. Let the crust cool and wrap it tightly. Store the drained bacon and shallots separately in airtight containers in the fridge. You can even whisk together the filling, cover, and chill. Then you can assemble all of the elements in mere minutes.

Rating:10/10

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