Yes, very flaky. Don't know how they do it, but you could not tell the difference between the oilive oil or regular fats. Their cheese cakes are a dream too and are fat free. I tried to make some using the fat free creamed cheese, but it turned into a watery mess. Theirs must use some kind of thickener that doesn't need any baking. They are sold in plastic pans. They claim to be a mail order outfit too, and even sell to some retailers now. I didn't like their gluten free donuts very much though, as they were a baked donut with a sugar free filling, a real shock to nayone expecting them to be the same texture as a fried, flour based one. I could enjoy the chocolate ones though, not bad. If I were to try the pie crust with oilive oil, it would be one that is not extra virgin as it doesn't need that taste to come through unless it was in a vegetable pie of some kind. The secret is to have the oilive oil and flour very cold so it dosn't make the dough too soft.

Exactly my thoughts.... MUCH too beautiful to eat. -Browning is aided by the addition of a sweetener and/or milk. -Xanthan gum, vinegar, and baking powder are ingredients that will help extensibility to help prevent cracking. -The addition of tapioca flour and/or cornstarch in a recipe will improve handling. -I wonder if using the coconut oil that remains a liquid would make a difference? Carrington Farms Coconut Cooking Oil (I find it at Wal-Mart) has a lot of uses in the kitchen where you want the coconut oil to remain liquid, and this pasty recipe may be one of them. -I found recipes that mist the pie tin with oil, and then mist the crust with oil just before baking. This may help prevent cracking, but it would also add a lot of fat and possibly make a greasy crust. -An egg wash would give it some strength, and that may help. Here's a crust recipe from "Gluten-Free 101" by the queen of gluten-free - Carol Fenster, Ph.D. (link to her web site is below). Coconut Pie Crust: Grease 9-inch pie plate. Combine 1-1/2 c. shredded coconut, 2 T. soft butter or margarine, 1 T. sweet rice flour, 1 t. vanilla extract, and 1/4 t. salt. Press onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 325-degrees F. until lightly toasted -- about 10-15 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burning, Cool thoroughly. Add filling of your choice. Serves 6. Nutrition: 160 calories; 12g fat; 1g protein; 14g carbohydrates; 43mg sodium; 0mg cholesterol; -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Carol Fenster Cooks

The reason I use the Impossible Pumpkin Pie recipe is because that's the recipe I made for years before going gluten-free. Our family preferred the crustless version of pumpkin pie and no one knew or cared if it was gluten-free because it's just like the regular version we enjoyed for eons. I could also double the recipe and bake it in a 9x13" cake pan (or single recipe in an 8x8" or 9x9" pan) and serve the pie in squares, instead of wedges from a round pie dish/plate. When space is a premium in the refrigerator, square/rectangle pans take up less room than rounds. I've found most gluten-free pastry substitutes are either difficult to make, poor quality substitutes, and when they include rice flour, tend to be gritty. Nut pastry can burn easily, but I just plain don't care for any of the g-f pastry recipes I've tried - and they usually mean either increased high-glycemic carbs or a lot of additional fat. Substitutes for Bisquick/Baking Mix. I try to avoid rice flour as much as possible due to the potential for arsenic from rice; and rice flour is found in most gluten-free mixes (as well as commercial g-f products), so I prefer making my own. For one cup baking mix: 1/2 c. almond flour 1/2 c. high-maize resistant starch (available from King Arthur, and larger amounts from Honeyville Grain - you could also use any brand of gluten-free all-purpose flour) 1-1/2 t. baking powder 1/4 t. salt 1 T. coconut oil (softened, not liquid) Thoroughly mix all ingredients until the coconut oil is mixed in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Baking Mix using Pamela's (Gluten-Free) Baking & Pancake Mix 2-1/2 c. Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix 3/4 c. solid fat of choice (butter, shortening, coconut oil) Cut fat into flour mix. [Grainlady helpful tip... An easy way to cut fat into any kind of flour mixture is with a hand-held electric mixer.]

Thanks, Colleen, I'll remember that. I usually remove the dessert from the pan, but Amanda cut this before I could even put it on a cake plate, my Mother wanted a piece with her coffee before dinner, as an "appetizer". She's 82 and she's my Mother, so we cut it, LOL, and after that, it was all downhill. (grin) Fortunately my family is very "laid back" about such things, so no one really cared. Except me, because I'd climbed that stupid step stool to get the cake plate down from the top shelf and then I didn't need it! I plopped the torte onto it anyway, I WAS going to use the darned thing. Shambo, the torte does call for eggs in both the filling and the crust, but I think the flax "egg" might be an OK substitute, because the sweet potatoes have a texture that's dense enough to keep shape. I haven't tried it, but I see no reason why it can't work... OK, the recipe. I did use fresh sweet potatoes, but I boiled them in lieu of roasting them as the recipe instructs, because I needed whipped sweet potatoes for the chipotle mashed sweets and I just didn't want to cook separate batches. I used coconut milk and the gluten free flour mix from King Arthur. I found the crust troublesome to roll, but it pressed easily into the springform pan and I flattened it with the bottom and sides of my metal measure cup. I used my food processor for the crust, but it could easily be done with a pastry cutter and a bowl. Sweet Potato Torte DOUGH: 1 cup gluten free all purpose flour blend 2 tbls tapioca starch/flour 3 tbls brown sugar (omit for a savory crust) 6 tbls unsalted butter or a dairy free alternative 1 large egg 1/4 tsp salt 1 tbls ice water (more if needed) Preheat oven to 375F and light grease a 9 inch pie plate or springform pan. IN a food processor mix gluten free flour blend, tapioca, brown sugar and salt, pulse to blend. Add butter and pulse to make a coarse meal. Add egg and ice water and mix just until mixture forms a ball. Flatten dough into a 6 inch disc between 2 sheets of parchment paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. Roll out to fit pan, fill and bake as recipe requires. FILLING: 2 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 3 medium) 1 3/4 cups of unsweetened coconut milk or unsweetened milk of choice + 1/4 cup of honey (or 2 fourteen ounce cans sweetened condensed milk) 6 tbls unsalted butter or dairy free alternative, melted 2 large eggs 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground nutmeg 3/4 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon Preheat oven to 375F. Place sweet potatoes in oven and bake 50 to 55 minutes, until tender. Cut in half and scrape potatoes out of their skins into a bowl. With a hand mixer (I used the Kitchen Aid instead) beat potatoes until smooth. Add all additional ingredients to potatoes and mix until well combined. Roll or press dough into a 9 inch or larger springform pan, pressing up the sides 1 to 1 1/2 inch. If dough cracks, repair with dampened fingers. Add filling and bake until center is set and sides start to brown, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool before slicing and serve at room temperature. Now, for the raspberry pie, that was very easy compared to the torte, the gluten free baking requires pretty much everything from scratch and careful cleanup so as not to contaminate what I just baked. My raspberry pie used the Nathan's Never Fail crust that SharonCB posted, and raspberries from the garden. I thickened the berries with cornstarch and didn't think they were thick enough, so added extra. Next time I think I'll stick with the original amount because the raspberry filling was pretty firm. And I still think it needs a layer of chocolate in there somewhere, maybe on the bottom of the crust under the cream cheese layer. The recipe called for a graham cracker crust, I used a pie shell but a chocolate crust might be good too. This is pretty quick and easy, although I used whipped cream instead of Cool Whip and it went pretty flat, I think the Cool Whip would have held up better, it seems sturdier... Raspberry Cream Pie TOPPING: 6 cups fresh raspberries, divided 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 3 tbls cornstarch CREAM FILLING 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese 1 cup whipped topping 1 cup confectioners sugar 1 prepared crust (9 inches) Fresh mint for garnish if desired Mash about 2 cups raspberries to measure 1 cup, place in saucepan. Add sugar, cornstarch and water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 2 minutes longer and strain to remove seeds if desired (I didn't). Cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and sugar in a bowl, mix in whipped cream or topping. Spread in bottom of crust, top with remaining berries. Pour cooled raspberry sauce over top and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours. Garnish with mint if desired. The mint would have been pretty but there's none in my yard in Michigan in late November! Annie