lol, Gold. The Dr. has okayed me eating a few sweets. My numbers have been excellent. Except if I get sick they go up. Rose, here's a simple from scratch recipe for them which I'll try eventually. Have you never had one before? They are excellent! We get them for dessert at our favorite Mexican restaurant. The recipe below is c&p. Apparently it's the Baking Powder in them which makes them fluff up and be hollow in the center. "Sopaipillas are pretty quick and easy to make: for 20 to 30, depending on the size, sift together 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in 2 tablespoons shortening until mealy, work in 3/4 cup cold water to form a dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead until smooth. Roll out as thin as possible and cut int 2- or 3-inch squares. Drop one at a time into hot (370 degree F) deep oil. Cook until brown on one side, turn over. Drain on paper towels."

I wouldn't make this with cream cheese without adjusting the recipe. It should need more cream and sugar, or less cheese. Cream cheese would be more stable and keep better than mascarpone, though. I remember you didn't like the sugariness of the cake, though, so cream cheese might be a good option. It has a little acid bite to it, and would counter the sugar some. And if you wanted to accentuate the bite, you wouldn't have to add more sugar. :) My mother has made many versions of this for Passover. Pesach sponge is tougher than flour sponge, and it's still pretty awful after a night in the fridge. It holds fine between 3 p.m. and dessert, but not much longer. The cream melts and goes icky if it sits out or the sponge, besides soaking up the liquid, starts to take on the flavors of the fridge, even when well covered. Further caution, it's even worse with berries in the filling. You might have better success. Really you might! I'm just having some bad memories (and my mother is an awesome cook and housekeeper). Still, I'd plan to make and serve the same day.

How about this one, although it does have an apple? You could use the puff pastry in place of the traditional pastry crust. I haven't made it, but saved it just because it sounds so good. You might have to adjust the cooking time to allow for the change in crust. Savory Autumn Crostada large baking apple 1 small or 1/2 medium butternut squash (about 3/4 pound), halved, seeded, and skin on 1 small yellow onion, peeled, root end trimmed but intact 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard 1⁄3 cup crumbled Stilton or other blue cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces) Slice and core the apples, peel and slice the butternut, and peel and slice the onions. Put all the squash, onion and apple slices into a bowl, and pour the melted butter over the top. Toss in the herbs, and season with salt and pepper, toss or mix them gently so each piece is coated perfectly in butter. Spread the mustard over the dough, leaving a 1-1½ inch border. Beginning on the outside, alternate slices of squash, apple and onion in a circle, tucking them close together. Continue layering it all into the center of the circle as well using smaller pieces to fill in the holes. Next, fold in the sides, pleating where necessary to contain the filling. Press the edges down gently and tuck any pointy pieces of onion or apple back down into the crostata. Place in a 400° oven until the crust is golden brown and flaky, about 55 minutes. After the 55 minutes, pull the crostata out of the oven. Crumble the cheese using a fork and scatter over the top of the crostata. Place the crostata back in the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Let it cool for a few minutes, slice it into wedges and serve. It can also be served room temperature. Or you could make an egg based topping, or spread with mustard, slices of corned beef and some swiss cheesse, roll up like cinnamon rolls, slice and bake. We actually made those for my stepson's wedding "appetizer reception" and they were all gobbled up. They're finger food, so easy to snack on, and other meats or cheeses could be used instead, depending on what you have on hand. And, suddenly, I have no idea how to get rid of these "bullets". (sigh) Annie

That sounds really good! Trader Joe's small bag of GF flour is better than others I've tried. It's mostly starch. Egg free gets so much harder, and I totally get the desire for commercial products. They have better ways of producing foods using gums and the like. The commercial GF puff pastry that looks okay has eggs and butter. :( I think by the time you remove the gluten and butter, its not puff even through squinty eyes. You have to have some kind of protein, and I don't think pea protein would work. And the fat globules of vegetable fat probably wouldn't work either. :( I found this blog, but what's in the picture proves she's so far down the rabbit hole, she doesn't know what she's making. OTOH, it looks crisp and flakey and might suit the purpose on the homemade side. There's another one that claims to have made GF vegan profiteroles. Well, I made some savory choux paste puffs last year that looked just the same. They're NOT puffs. They're nasty, dry squatty things. Much better to invent something new with what you have than go to these lengths to make a really bad version. The rice crust I described doesn't have to have egg. That just makes it stick together. You could use chia goo or gum or honey or anything that'll make it stick together enough to get it out of the pan. And from that point of view, something like baklava or spankopita filling could be baked by itself in a glazed baking dish and be scooped out and served on GF/eggF/dairyF water crackers (or gluten free matzah-like squares), or just eaten with a spoon. ;) Or GF toast points. Hm... I wonder what would happen if you toasted GF bread, dampened it, and rolled it out thin then baked it? Moosemac, your zucchini sheets sound interesting. I can definitely see it for something like spanakopita!