Aurora's Pastries (from Broken Aether)

Sweet, buttery, flakey, honey-y... honestly, I don't have enough adjectives to describe these the way they deserve. Rena is obsessed with them, and I think you will be, too.

---

Ingredients:
​1 3/4 c all purpose flour
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
​Pinch of salt

3/4 c cold butter, cut into small cubes
1/4-1/2 c cold water
​Honey (like, a bunch)

Process:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Then, add in 1/4 cup of the butter. Mix the butter into the flour with your fingers until you reach a crumbly texture. Add the cold water a little bit at a time, mixing with a fork between each addition. You want it to come together into a dry, shaggy dough.
Place your dough on a well-floured workspace (you can smush it together a little to get any remaining dry, crumbly pieces incorporated). Roll the dough out into something that's vaguely rectangular and about 1/4 inch thick. Dot your rectangle with about 1/3 of the remaining butter cubes, then add a light drizzle of honey across the surface. Fold the two sides of the rectangle in towards the center (sort of like you're folding a piece of paper to fit into an envelope). Then, roll the dough out again until you have another rectangle about 1/4 inch thick (re-flour your workspace and rolling pin before rolling it again so nothing sticks). Repeat the butter-honey-fold process two more times with the remained 2/3 of the butter. It's probably going to get messy by the last time you're rolling it out, but just tell yourself it's going to be delicious and so worth it!
​After you roll the dough out the final time, cut it into 12 pieces. Fold each piece in half and (gently) shove it into a greased muffin tin. Drizzle a little more honey over the top of each. Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden brown and you see a delightful mixture of honey and butter bubbling around the edges. Remove from the muffin tin to cool on a separate pan as soon as possible (I did burn my fingers doing this, but it keeps the bottoms from getting soggy). Best enjoyed when slightly warm!
The Inspiration:
Rena dropped one pastry on the professor’s desk and reclined at hers with the newspaper. Stuffing her mouth with a bite far larger than what was proper, she sighed softly at the divine taste of sweet honey and melt-in-your-mouth pastry...
Rena looked up, licking her fingers, as the door to the office opened. The sharp tap of a cane accompanied by a slightly uneven gait confirmed the arrival of Professor Edwards. Like his name plate, he was quite intimidating in appearance. He wasn’t especially tall, just about average height, but held himself with an air of command from his time in the Queen’s military. Prominent cheek and brow bones and a sharp nose framed his dark eyes. His hair was slicked back from his forehead, all jet black except for a few stray gray hairs near his temples (not that Rena would ever mention those). As always, he was dressed in a crisp gray suit and carried his gilded black cane. His right leg had been injured during his time in the military, and while he could manage without the cane, he enjoyed the air of authority and sophistication that it gave him. Of course, Rena wasn’t fooled by his appearance.
“Beat you again,” Rena remarked as she held out the paper for him.
“Perhaps that is because I have a wife to kiss goodbye and a household to attend to,” he replied coolly, whisking the newspaper from her hand with a crisp snap.
Rena smiled cheekily. “I brought one of Aurora’s pastries.”
“Well in that case, any and all insolence is forgiven.” Swiftly unwrapping the parcel on his desk, he bit into the pastry and let out a sigh. It was really the only response to one of Aurora’s pastries.