Shourri’s Squirrel Nests

Brannith Marius
Jan 9
7 min read

Nut Stuffed Honey Butter Croissants (Japanese Inspired by a French take on a Turkish adaptation of a Persian dish.)

Early one winter morning, Shourri puttered about the kitchen prepping her breakfast before opening the potion shop. Today was a special day because she had picked up some lovely Flaky Pastries from the Busy Bee Bakery. She licked her lips thinking about biting into the soft buttery buns drizzled with honey as she sipped her piping hot and steamy brown bean brew while watching the sun rise. It was starting out to be a great day!

A scuffling noise from the ceiling made the Small Folk lass perk up her ears. What was that? Did she have some batty-bats visiting? Was Turnip actually up this morning? (Turnips are notoriously late sleepers). Maybe it was Turnip’s emotional support dragonette, Hank. He would occasionally sun-bath on the roof to get his blood flowing. Turnip was also a nervous mess when the potion shop was open, so Hank expected to have his hands full today.

“Hey! Hank! Would you like a pastry this morning?” called out the druid. Shourri blink a few times. No response. “Odd,” she thought. “Hank, is that you?” The scuffling stopped.

Shourri shrugged. Oh well. She busied herself making some brown bean brew while the oven warmed up. Flaky Pastry is an absolute delight when served warm. Suddenly, she heard it again! “Hello? Who is up there?” Silence answered her again. This time, Shourri sniffed in annoyance. Eyes narrowing, she considered her options.

Well,” she thought. “The bats would have said good morning to me and asked for a wake-up call, so it is not them. Hank always joins me for a pastry, even if he prefers tea to brown bean brew.” She tapped her chin in thought. She outright dismissed the idea that Turnip would be up this early, let alone on the roof. That rootling was not a fan of heights at all.

Determined to figure it out, Shourri opened the door from the kitchen and stepped outside far enough to see the roof to figure out who was hopping around up there. As she stepped out, a shadowy form eased its way through the side window. Moving from the back of a large jug to under the table, to the counter upon which resided the cherished Flaky Pastries. As quick as thought, a slender furry hand seized the entirety of the baked goods as it could and whipped them into the shadows. Shourri stood outside, squinting at the rooftop, trying to figure out what made all the racket on top of her small home. Meanwhile, the mysterious burglar stealthed back out the window, leaving the room quiet but that much more empty of morning breakfast joy.

Scratching her head, the druid returned to the kitchen with a mild pout. She could not figure out who or what made that noise! Shrugging, she poured herself a big mug of steaming brew, splashed some cream in, and turned to reach for the honey pot. And stopped. Something… was… missing…. Her eyes flew open wide! Where were her Flakey Pastries!!!

With a squawk of indignance, Shourri spun around to catch the culprit. But no one was there! “What? WHAT??!! WHO??! I’M GONNA….” She grabbed a wooden spoon and started brandishing it about, even though there was nothing to threaten. “WHO TOOK MY PASTRIES!!!”

More scrabbling on the roof and the druid detected the faintest but undeniable round of chirpy-like giggling. “ARGH!” she cried and the giggling got louder. Oh, there you are, she thought as she bound outside again. This time, though, she stuffed the wooden spoon into her mouth and transformed into a purpley-gray kitty. With a mighty leap, she sprang up to the roof (druids be skilled, y’all) and hurdled herself towards the cluster of figures on the roof, hiding behind the stone chimney. She pounced amongst the beasties and the cluster of squirrels scattered, abandoning the one holding a cloth bag. Shourri could smell the pastries in that bag, along with a bunch of other foods they must have pilfered from her kitchen. “THOSE ARE MINE, YA FUZZY LITTLE BANDIT! GIMMEE NOW!” She stood over the critter as it shook in its furry knickers. It stared at her in terror and slowly, trying not to startle the predator looming over it, reached into the bag.

Shourri blinked hard as a large nut collided right between her eyes. She huffed in surprise, stunned – not so much from the impact, but from the audacity. The squirrel suddenly snorted a massive guffaw and lobbed a second nut at her noggin, its big fluffy tail thrashing in brash mocking body tones. The druid blinked again. Whaa….?

The squirrel took advantage of her confusion and shot for the edge of the roof, slipping down the waterspout and gliding right back into the kitchen window. It was going back for more!!!

She tore after it, claws sinking into the thatch as she angled herself into the window and vaulted across the room just as the squirrely thief was loading up the honeypot and butter bell. She managed to smack the beastie in the bum, making it screech shrilly in Rodent. The bag went flying into the air, tumbling about, ricocheting off the counter, off the overhead chandelier, bouncing off the table, and landed with a kerploch on the hearth of the nicely warmed-up-by-now oven.

Shourri maneuvered herself between the rodent and the bag and growled fiercely, showing her long white fangs. The squirrel swallowed, looked from the druid cat to the bag, then back to the cat. With a flick of its tail, the beastie pounded a hasty retreat out the still open kitchen door – although it took the time to flick its tail at her once more, the squirrelly version of a big wet raspberry.

With a mighty huff, Shourri sat down and stared out through the door, flabbergasted at the morning’s events. And to think she vouched for the mangey critters at the last festival! Shaking her head, she flowed back into her natural Small Folk form and scooped up the bag from the hearth. “Huh, that’s oddly heavy…” she considered.

Our intrepid Breakfast Rescuing Heroine shook the items out of the bag onto a tray on the counter. At first, a handful of nuts came tumbling out. “Heh, those aren’t mine, but I’ll take them in payment!” she chuckled. But then with a wet shplock, the rest of the items came sliding out, a big, sticky, mixed up pile of goop. It looks like they got her pastries, her honey, several spices, and a fair bit of sugar and dumped them into the same bag as their collection of nuts. As short as it was, the time on the oven hearth melted much of it together, turning into some sort of messy conglomeration. Mourning her now soggy, sticky pastries, Shourri left the tray on the hearth by the oven and decided to just have her brown bean brew to break her fast.

A short while later, as she prepped the potion shop for opening, the druid began to notice a warm and fragrant scent drifting through her house. It was buttery and sweet, with an aroma of decedent baking. Astonished, she rushed to the kitchen to find the tray of soggy Flakey Pastries had continued to cook in front of the kitchen fire and turned into a luscious caramelized nutty delight! She roared with laughter and swept up the rich treats to share with her potion’s customers throughout the rest of the day. It turned out to be a great day after all!

Nut Stuffed Honey Butter Croissants (Japanese Inspired by a French take on a Turkish adaptation of a Persian dish.)

Tools needed:

· Medium saucepan

· Sharp knife and cutting board

· Baking cooling rack

· Medium mixing bowl

· Parchment paper cut into squares or circles approx. 4 inches x 4 inches

· Sheet pan

Ingredients

Croissants

· 6 Large buttery Croissants (fresh or day-old both work)

· 1 cup Butter

· ½ cup Honey

· ½ cup Light Brown Sugar

· Pinch Flaky Salt

· 1 cup white granular, turbinado, or course sugar

· (optional – fresh mint leaves as garnish)

Filling

· 1 lb preferred nuts (pecans, almonds, pistachios, etc.) toasted & chopped finely

· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

· ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

· ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

· ¼ c sugar

· 2 tsp (or to taste) total of one or preferred combination of the following

o orange peel (grated)

o lemon peel (grated)

o rose petals, dried and crumbled

o rosemary, dried and ground

o dried pomegranates / cherries / apricot / dates (minced or grated), etc.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 360F / Gas Mark 4.

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter.

3. Stir in the honey, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt until smooth and glossy.

4. Combine all filling ingredients in a separate bowl. Add a light drizzle of the honey butter mix to help the ingredients stick together

5. Slice each croissant in half – cross-wise. Push aside or pull out some of the center pastry to make room for the filling.

6. Roll the croissant into the honey butter mixture. Be careful, it is very hot and sticky and could scald you. I used tongs.

7. Carefully roll croissants in the course sugar and stuff lightly with nut filling.

8. Place parchment paper sections over end of the croissants covering the filling. (You can skip this part and simply lay them on their side if you wish.)

9. Arrange the croissants on a lined baking tray parchment side down (like a cone).

10. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until golden, glossy, and bubbling at the edges.

11. Remove from oven and allow them to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.

12. Carefully peel parchment paper off. Try not to pull the caramelized sugar off.

13. Arrange on a platter on their original bottom (flat side, not caramelized/filling side).

14. Drizzle tops with leftover honey butter and any remaining nut mix.

15. Serve as is, or with toppings like ice cream, berries, or a drizzle of melted chocolate.

Notes

Serve with

· A scoop of ice cream

· Fresh fruit like strawberries, blueberries, or bananas

· Chocolate drizzle or Nutella