the whites) and no butter. The first recipe in a cookbook for a white sponge cake is in Lettice Bryan's The Kentucky Housewife of 1839. Since there is no butter in the cake, the angel food cake is not related to the butter cakes: snow-drift cake, silver cake or lady cake. The Home Messenger Book of Tested Recipes, 2d ed., 1878, by Isabella Stewart contained the first recipe for Angel's Food Cake. Stewart's detailed recipe called for eleven egg whites, sugar, flour, vanilla extract and cream of tartar. Uses The cake is often served with berries and eaten for dessert. The name, which comes from the texture, which is "so light that angels could eat it and still fly without being weighted down", has given it a special association in some communities. Among African Americans, the cake is often served at funeral receptions, with the idea that the deceased person is now living in Heaven among the angels. Among the Pennsylvania Dutch, it is considered a wedding cake, and the couple is said to be blessed by angels. The most traditional method, also known as the angel food cake method, is as follows. First the egg whites, and possibly salt, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar, are mixed at a medium speed until a soft peak forms. Whipping continues while the sugar is slowly added. Once a hard peak is formed, the flour is folded into the mixture of egg whites and sugar. This technique is done in order to disturb the foam as little as possible. Different equipment is used when preparing an angel food cake at home or in a small bakery as opposed to a large scale production. Many recipes found in cookbooks advise bakers to whip the egg whites in a copper bowl. The theory behind this is that the whisk incorporates copper particles or ovotransferrin, which is attached to copper particles, into the egg whites, improving the flexibility and stability of the foam. Some research has found that the copper significantly increases the dilatational elasticity, which is the elasticity of the protein cell wall at the interface of air/water. A planetary mixer, such as a stand mixer or handheld mixer, is appropriate for a homemade or bakery cake. If the cake is being mass-produced, a continuous mixer is preferred. There are three methods in which the cake can be made at home or in a