Preparing and serving tartes & quiches

Tartes & Quiches

When you take a closer look at the topic of “Tartes & Quiches”, you quickly realize that there is a lot of partly contradictory information about both dishes. At Butch, we try to shed some light on the darkness of the oven:

Tarte

In French cuisine, a flat cake with an unsweetened shortcrust pastry base is called a “Tarte”. The topping for the Tarte can be either sweet or savory. The Tarte is baked in special forms that have only a small height and often have the typical fluted edge. Mini-Tartes baked in small forms are called Tartelettes. Topped with fresh fruit, they are wonderful as a small appetizer or sweet finger food.

Also well-known, also with us, is the Tarte Tatin, a traditional French apple cake that is baked “upside down”. Characteristic of the apple cake, which is also called “Tarte du Chef”, is the layer of caramel that forms on the bottom of the baking dish and later covers the apples when the cake is turned out.

Quiche

The “Quiche” also comes from France and originally comes from the Lorraine region. Here, too, it is a round, flat shortcrust pastry, but with a spicy topping that is covered with a cream and egg mixture. A classic is the Quiche à la lorraine or simply “Quiche lorraine”, a Lorraine bacon cake that is now internationally known and popular. This Quiche is often found as a main course on the menu due to its richness.

In the past, the dishes or recipes behind the two terms were actually precisely defined. Meanwhile, a broader use of the two terms has become established. A still characteristic difference that is often found is the height of the baked goods. Usually, the Tarte is flatter than the Quiche, but even that is no longer a reliable distinguishing feature.

Appolia Ceramic Baking Dishes

The French traditional brand Peugeot not only produces professional mills, but also distributes high-quality ceramic baking dishes under the label Appolia. This oven-proof dish made of Ecoceram is exclusively manufactured in France and is therefore allowed to bear the quality seal "Origine France".

Just like the brand Appolia, quiche and tarte also originate from France, which is why the Appolia range offers both special quiche and tarte dishes: In the standard size of 28 cm diameter, there are round dishes with a low edge - for tarte - and dishes with a higher edge - for quiche. These ceramic dishes are available in different colors, in bright red, dark blue, creamy white and noble gray.

With the large handy handles, which are additionally grooved on the underside, you can safely bring your tarte or quiche from the oven to the table. On the set table, the Appolia dishes not only look great due to their great appearance, but also impress with the high heat storage capacity of the material. In other words, the ceramic dish keeps your baked goods warm for a long time.

The enamel glaze specially developed for Appolia dishes provides a beautiful shine, protects against scratches and abrasion and is of course food-safe. The smooth surface of the ceramic makes it easy to remove the dishes prepared in it. The glazed dishes are easy to clean. We at Butch recommend gentle hand washing.

If there are actually leftovers from quiche or tarte, they can be stored in the refrigerator. Or even in the freezer. Appolia dishes have a range of minus 20°C to plus 250°C. To reheat, simply put the dish back in the oven. However, please avoid too drastic partial temperature differences. So do not put a hot dish on a wet cold cloth, for example. This temperature shock could lead to fine cracks in the material, and the dish would be ruined.

de Buyer Steel Baking Pans with Non-Stick Coating

Like Appolia, the brand de Buyer also comes from France and therefore naturally has tart pans in its program. The round baking pans are available in different sizes - from small tartlet pans to the large pan with a diameter of 32 cm. All de Buyer tart baking pans have the typical fluted edge and are available with either a fixed or loose bottom. With a pan with a loose bottom, you can easily remove the baked goods without damaging them.

The de Buyer baking pans made of non-stick coated steel have very good heat conduction and distribution. This guarantees even baking. The non-stick coating is based on PTFE, durable, and prevents the baked goods from sticking. It also simplifies the cleaning of the pans. To not affect this high-quality coating, we recommend gentle hand washing.

de Buyer Baking Pans made of Perforated Stainless Steel with Baking Separation Sheets

The perforated and fluted de Buyer tart pan with baking separation sheet is ideal for preparing sweet and savory tarts and for fruit cake bases. The continuous perforation ensures very even baking of the dough. The loose bottom is practical, making it easy and comfortable to remove the finished baked goods. The two included baking separation sheets are temperature-resistant from -170°C to 260°C and can be reused up to 200 times. This de Buyer pan can be used - depending on the preparation method - with or without the sheet.

Basic recipe for a shortcrust pastry base

tested, tasted and approved by your Butch team

Ingredients:

The amount of dough is calculated for a baking tin with a diameter of 28 cm - recommendations for suitable tins can be found below the recipe

130 g butter (room temperature)
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
½ tsp salt or sugar
250 g flour

Preparation:

First, mix the butter with egg, milk and either salt or sugar in a bowl. Then add the flour and knead thoroughly until a homogeneous dough is formed. Shape it into a ball, wrap it in a damp (not wet!) cloth and refrigerate for at least two hours.

After cooling, sprinkle some flour on the work surface and roll out the dough evenly with a rolling pin. You can use the bottom of the baking tin as a guide for the diameter, but should add about 4 cm for the walls.

Place the rolled-out dough in the pre-greased tin and press it into shape. Remove any excess dough from the edge and use it for "patching" if necessary.

Now it depends on whether you want to prepare a tart or quiche in which the filling is baked or not. If the filling is not baked, prick the dough a few times with a fork before baking. Preheat the oven to about 175°C (top/bottom heat) and bake the pastry base for about 15 to 20 minutes.

If the filling is baked, pricking the dough is not necessary. The baking time (see above) will be extended depending on the type and amount of ingredients.

We at Butch are confessing tart and quiche fans. We are enthusiastic about the variety of toppings and have already tried out quite a few: classics like apple, streusel with rhubarb, chocolate, or rather savory with spinach, goat cheese, salmon, to really exotic recipes like beetroot or pineapple curry.

Aside from the seemingly endless variety of recipes, we like that you can enjoy quiche and tart either warm, lukewarm or cold. So we just pop a tin in the oven and have a delicious warm snack when friends come over in the evening. If it gets later, it also tastes great lukewarm. Everything is totally easy. And the leftovers can be taken as a small lunch package the next day. The whole thing is wonderfully versatile, like life itself. C'est la vie.