Pound cake and a clam shell rant
I’m very frustrated with the fact that plastic clam shells are no longer recyclable in the Vancouver/Portland area. More specifically, I’m frustrated with the fact that there is no longer a market for this plastic and yet we’re still finding it ALL OVER THE PLACE. If I want strawberries, blueberries, or pound cake at Winco, Safeway and a host of other grocery stores in our area, it all comes in this packaging. I could go on and on listing items that are packaged in clam shells.
My immediate solution is to no longer buy items packaged in clam shells. I went to Kaye’s Blueberries and bought 18 pounds of blueberries and even returned the pound cake I purchased at Winco. Fortunately, it was so tightly packaged with three different layers of plastic that returning it was not an issue.
Adding insult to injury, restaurants are still using these non recyclable clam shells as their to go boxes for food that you want to take away from their restaurants. Living in an area that is so big on recycling, I am absolutely baffled by this. We were at Nicholas Restaurant the other night (which is a fantastic Lebanese restaurant with three locations in the Portland area) and they brought us out these clam shells for the pizza my sister-in-law was unable to eat and I was so disappointed. They seem so progressive to me. There must be other options for these restaurants than giving us containers that are going to end up in land fills.
My hope is that the companies and restaurants still packaging with and giving out clam shells have ordered ahead and are simply using up this material before transitioning to a more earth friendly product.
Regardless, it has caused me to rethink some things so let me share the pound cake recipe I modified to be vegetarian friendly so we could still have chocolate fondue with our niece and nephew last night without chucking a hunk of plastic in a landfill. God forbid my eccentric rants would rob two precious teenagers of their birth right to indulge in spongy deliciousness coated in cocoa. As a bonus, the batter of this recipe was fantastic and the end result quite moist.
Delicious egg free, sugar free pound cake
Pound Cake
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/3 cups agave nectar
4 Tbsp tapioca flour
4 Tbsp water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups soy milk (add 1 Tbsp + 1 ½ tsp lemon juice into total measurement)*
*soy milk and lemon juice are a substitute for buttermilk
Preheat oven to 325° . Grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan. Beat vegetable shortening with agave nectar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy; beat tapioca flour and water into mixture. Mix vanilla into the mixture. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; stir into liquid ingredients in several additions, alternating with buttermilk substitute to make a smooth batter. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in the preheated oven until cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cake cool.
This recipe has been modified substantially. Original recipe with common ingredients of sugar and egg found at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/camilles-buttermilk-pound-cake/detail.aspx
Viki
I am a Clark County native. I am Level 2 WSET (wine and spirit education trust)-certified and enjoy pairing wine with my passion for travel and fondness of food. My most prized possessions are the memories of places I've been with my husband, the chance encounters we've been blessed to have along the way and my carry-on bag. I can often be seen around town and in tasting rooms with our two beautiful, double-Merle Australian shepherds, Challenge and Baby Girl.