Fig, Chevre & Bacon Quiche

 

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour. 

 

Ingredients

 Filling

300 ml of Thickened cream

4 cubes of Meredith Dairy marinated goat cheese

4 Eggs

100 g Bacon (good quality smoked bacon is best)

3 Fresh figs

100 g Roasted Jap pumpkin (roasted the day before)

 

Yeasted gf Puff Pastry

400 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

45 g Sugar 

2 tsp Yeast

1/4 - 1/2 tsp Salt

150 g Boiling water

270 g Water (bit cooler than room temperature)

50 g Melted butter

Extra BM gf flour

 

Butter Block

~330 g Butter at room temperature

Method

Roasting pumpkin - I usually roast 1/4 of a pumpkin & store the pieces in the fridge for adding to salads or quiches like this one. 

Turn the oven on to 180 C. 

Cut the jap pumpkin into chunks & leave the skin on.

Transfer pieces to a lightly oiled roasting dish & bake for approximately 1 hour. The time will depend on your oven & the size of the pieces.

Allow to cool before storing them in the fridge.  

 

Yeasted gf Puff pastry

For warm water add together the boiling water and the cooler water. 

Pre-incubate the yeast at room temperature for approximately 5 - 8 mins in 100 g of warm water containing 15 g of sugar. Stir the mixture to dissolve the sugar & disperse the yeast. This gives the yeast a readily available food source & they can "revive" in a relatively undisturbed environment. After the allocated time the surface of the yeast mixture should be slightly frothy. This indicates the yeast are viable. 

Stand mixer - can also be mixed by hand but it is a bit hard getting all the lumps out. I've made it a couple of times in a Thermomix however the resulting pastry tends to be slightly harder & not as crisp. My preferred method is using a stand mixer.

Mix together the Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour, 30 g of sugar & salt in a bowl.  

Melt the butter. Add the remaining warm water to the butter. 

Usually I add the water/butter to the bowl then add the flour blend. I find the lumps are easier to get out & there is less flour stuck to the bottom of the mixing bowl.  

Pour the butter/water into the mixing bowl and add in the flour. Mix on low/medium speed until the flour is incorporated. Increase the speed and mix until the dough is uniform. 

Cover the top of the mixing bowl to stop the dough from drying out and put the bowl in a warm spot for 15 to 20 mins.

While the dough is proving prepare the filling ingredients - slice the figs finely, chop the chevre cubes and chop the bacon into small pieces.  

Transfer the dough out of the mixing bowl. It should have risen a bit. 

Put the dough onto some water proof wrapping (plastic clingfilm, bees wax wrap), flatten, cover completely & put in the freezer for approximately 30 mins. I usually put the timer on for 15 mins then turn the dough over & give it another 15 mins. We want the dough to be cold but not frozen (been there done that).

While the dough is in the freezer turn on the oven to 180 C & finishing preparing the ingredients - mix together the cream, roasted pumpkin & eggs. 

Use some of the extra Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour to lightly flour a clean work surface & rolling pin. If you have a pastry mat put a piece of A4 paper underneath it - you'll use it as a guide when rolling out the dough. 

Transfer the dough to the floured surface. Put a little flour on the top. 

The dough is going to be rolled out & folded (6 single turns - check out Information - gluten free flaky pastryBEFORE the butter block is added. For photos of the method visit Yeasted gf Puff Pastry.

Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape the size of the A4 paper. I usually lift the dough up every now & then & put a bit more flour to prevent it sticking to the work surface. 

Fold in one long side of dough approximately one third, fold the other long side over the top. This is a 'single turn'.

Turn the folded up dough 90 degrees and roll it out to the size of the A4 sheet. Repeat the folding up. This is the second single turn. If the dough is a little sticky put a little flour on top & then brush off the excess. Repeat the folding & rolling out for another 4 single turns.

Has the dough been out of the freezer for more than 15 mins, if so put it back in the freezer for another 5 mins. 

Adding the butter block

Roll out the dough to the size of an A4 piece of paper. 

Put the butter between 2 sheets of baking paper. The butter should be soft(ish). 

I usually whack it with a rolling pin to make it thinner. I then shape the butter between the baking sheets with my hands or fold it over. Essentially the butter needs to be soft enough to be folded. 

We want the butter to be 2/3rds of the size of the dough (a 250 g butter block wrapper is about the right size).  

Take off the top layer of baking paper & place the butter block on to the left hand side of the rolled out dough. Remove the bottom piece of baking paper that is now on the top of the butter. 

Fold the right hand side of the dough (no butter on it) over the middle third of the dough. Repeat with the either side. 

Ensure that all butter is encased in dough. If it isn't pinch/stretch some of the dough to enclose the butter. 

Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll out to the size of an A4 piece of paper. 

Fold & roll out the dough for 5 'single turns'. If the dough gets sticky add a little of the extra flour, brush off any excess. 

The dough is now ready to be used. You'll probably see streaks of butter through the dough.

Use half of the dough for the quiche. The other half can be used to make cheese sticks or a danish pastry.

Grease a flan tin or pie dish. 

Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2 - 3 mm. Some shrinkage will occur during baking so make it larger than the size of your flan tin/pie dish. 

If your rolled out dough is not the right shape use a cookie cutter to turn the edge of the dough into a pattern (photo below - I used a large flower shaped cutter).

Use a rolling pin to roll up the dough to make it easy to transfer the dough to the flan tin/pie dish. Let the pastry hang over the edge. 

Sprinkle the bacon and chevre on top of the dough. Pour in the cream, egg and pumpkin mix. Stir the mix a little to redistribute the bacon & cheese.

Lay the fig slices on top. 

Fold over any pastry onto the filling.  

 

Bake at 180 C for approximately 35 - 45 mins (or until the mixture stops wobbling when you move the pan).

Simply enjoy!