The problem I have is this: I love desserts and it's one of the things I usually make to take to family functions, but my boyfriend is allergic to eggs and nuts. Oftentimes after the meal when everyone is having coffee and dessert, the boy can't have anything there (unless there's pie and even then some have an eggwash on them).

I have found several ways around this: Making cookies and pancakes using EnerG egg replacers (Do you believe he'd never had chocolate chip cookies or pancakes before I came along? Is he a lucky boy, or what?) and finding cake recipes that don't contain eggs such as applesauce cake.

Breakfast, too, is a problem. He ate hot or cold cereal every morning of his life before he met me. It's hard getting creative when you can't use eggs.

Or maybe search allrec!pies for "vegan"? They might have a section for that.

I'm looking for recipes that transport well and have good presentation. I do make baked apples and poached pears at home, but they generally turn to mush if you bake them and take them for a drive and there's usually too much going on in the family kitchen to be able to slip them into the oven.

Fruit pies or crisps work well, transport well, and often look better than some other types of fruit desserts. Platz (pie dough on a cookie sheet, covered with fruit and a flour-and-sugar-type topping) is a nice variation of pie. In warm weather, a simple fruit salad with a sweet dressing might be good.

If you have some cake recipes that don't use eggs, consider adding cake to the suggested trifle. Or vary the fillings and frostings to get as much mileage out of one kind of cake as you can. My grandma makes cake (chocolate, but it might work with other kinds) with tofu instead of eggs.

A few more ideas:

-add some milk to your pancake batter (made with egg replacement) to make crepes, which you can make ahead and keep in the fridge. Serve them with fruit such as berries or peaches and some whipped cream, and caramel or chocolate sauce if you'd like.

-Or you could make a gratin, which goes as follows: Combine mixed soft fruit -- berries, stone fruit, cherries, etc. -- with a little sugar and a little liqueur, pour it into a baking dish, and top with sweetened creme fraiche (enough to cover the fruit). Sprinkle with sugar, refrigerate until very cold, and then caramelize the sugar under the boiler for about 2 minutes.

-Or a coeur a la creme -- combine 8 oz mascarpone, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla until smooth. In a large bowl, beat 1 cup heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks. fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture and pour into a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Set the sieve over a bowl and drain for 24 hours in the fridge. Unmold, cut into wedges (or scoop with ice cream scoop) and serve with raspberry coulis, and fruit if desired.

I do make a fruit tart with pudding, graham cracker crust and fruit with a gelatin glaze, but your recipe sounds so much better.

I might as well post what I use for the platz topping: for a large cookie sheet of platz, mix 3/4 C. sugar, 3/4 C. flour, and 1/2 tsp. baking powder. Rub in 2 Tbsp. butter. Add just enough milk or cream to make coarse crumbs. This can be scaled down to make less, and the measurements don't need to be exact.

And as an extra bonus, if you ever make those "cookie mix in a jar" things you can use the soy so the recipient doesn't have to add an egg