Portuguese Kidney-Shaped Choux

Also known as: Portuguese Kidney-Shaped Choux · Chocolate Rim Pastry

Kidney-shaped curved choux filled with cream and topped with chocolate.

Origin: Portuguese pastry-counter tradition · anatomical form
Region: Portugal
Season: Year-round · now rare

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Rim is a curved choux piece with two rounded lobes and an inner indentation reproducing a kidney silhouette. It is filled with pastry cream and topped with milk- or dark-chocolate fondant.

The light hollow pastry contrasts with soft filling and a chocolate skin. Despite its anatomical name, it visually resembles a large curved bean and belongs to the same technical family as éclair and choux.

Ingredients

Choux pastry
Pastry cream
Milk- or dark-chocolate fondant

Taste & texture

Light slightly dry pastry, smooth cream and a thick sweet chocolate coating.

Variations

The filling may be pastry cream, egg cream or chocolate; the coating alternates between milk and dark chocolate.

Where to try it

It is now rare and appears to vary regionally. Look in long-established in-house pastry shops, especially among choux pastries.

Pairs well with

Espresso or milky coffee.

History

It is another Portuguese cake named after an anatomical form. Fabrico Próprio documents the construction but identifies no inventor, date or originating region.

Tradition permits egg-cream or chocolate fillings in addition to pastry cream. The form survives precisely because its irregular outline distinguishes it from elongated éclairs and round choux.

Sources: fabricoproprio.net · commons.wikimedia.org

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