Rhubarb & Coconut Frangipane Tarts

I've made these tarts a few times now - individually sized as well as a large one. No need to pre-cook the rhubarb, and the sweet 'frangipane' balances the tartness.

(frangipane is originally a butter, sugar and ground almond mixture - coconut substitute works a treat.)

The best thing about these tarts is that they make a quick and easy dinner party dessert - so if you have slaved all day on preparing and cooking the first two courses, these take about 5 minutes to make and not much longer to cook. I like!

Makes 4
One sheet of puff pastry, cut into 4 squares (most commercial puff pastries are dairy/egg/nut free, except for Pampas butter version)
3-4 sticks of rhubarb, washed and cut to fit squares
75g dairy-free margarine (Nuttelex), softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar
90g dessicated coconut
1 tbsp cornflour
1 egg replacer

Cut puff pastry sheet into 4 squares. Score the edges to leave a 2cm border.

Beat butter, extract and caster sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg replacer, beat until combined. Fold in coconut and cornflour.

Spread frangipane keeping within the score marks of the pastry, about 1/2 cm thick. Lay rhubarb sticks over the mixture, and bake in preheated 180 C oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately. Can be eaten plain or with dairy-free ice cream.

Carrot & Banana Cake

dairy free egg free nut free vegan

Before Gina came to the rescue, I trialled carrot cakes that didn't rise much, and banana muffins that were nice enough, but for some reason didn't translate very well into a cake. The combination of the two means this cake rises beautifully and keeps very moist. I think this was Gina's recipe prior to having a dairy and egg allergic son - after which she made it allergy-friendly, and it rocks. Thanks a million Gina! We love it. Works perfectly as muffins, round cake or in a loaf tin as I have done here.


225g self raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g brown sugar
1 cup grated carrot
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
150ml vegetable oil
2 egg replacers

Preheat oven to 180 C. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, spices and mix well. Add carrot, bananas, vegetable oil and egg replacers and mix until well combined. Grease a pan and line the bottom of square, round or loaf tin - pour in combined mixture and bake for approx 25-35 minutes.

Lemon Icing
55g dairy-free margarine, softened
250g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)

Beat margarine with icing sugar, then add lemon juice/zest. Make double quantity if you are layering and filling a round cake.