Why it's called devil's/angel's food cake
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Date: 2024-11-01
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Comments and reviews: 20
thetrainhopper8992
We also can’t forget how influential religion was in the US after the Second Great Awakening and all the religious groups that had a thing with bland food. We focus on the Puritans around Thanksgiving and the founding of Massachusetts, but we also forget how they had their hand in basically every positive social movement that formed in the US from the 1820s until the 1920s. It wasn’t just Kellogg and eating bland food, the Puritans had their hand in the Abolition Movement, the first 2 waves of Feminism and Evangelical Christianity. As much as you like to point out racism, it’s not the only thing that’s happened in American history for better or worse. The Puritans were very involved in American history and have a lot of impacts we still see today. History is rarely as simple as one phenomena having complete run of a society. Also, the first Fannie Farmer cookbook was published in the late 1800s in Boston. Which was the first modern cookbook with modern measurements. So, you can’t just ignore the fact that the Puritan Heartland had a massive impact in the most basic parts of cooking in the US, how we write recipes.
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We also can’t forget how influential religion was in the US after the Second Great Awakening and all the religious groups that had a thing with bland food. We focus on the Puritans around Thanksgiving and the founding of Massachusetts, but we also forget how they had their hand in basically every positive social movement that formed in the US from the 1820s until the 1920s. It wasn’t just Kellogg and eating bland food, the Puritans had their hand in the Abolition Movement, the first 2 waves of Feminism and Evangelical Christianity. As much as you like to point out racism, it’s not the only thing that’s happened in American history for better or worse. The Puritans were very involved in American history and have a lot of impacts we still see today. History is rarely as simple as one phenomena having complete run of a society. Also, the first Fannie Farmer cookbook was published in the late 1800s in Boston. Which was the first modern cookbook with modern measurements. So, you can’t just ignore the fact that the Puritan Heartland had a massive impact in the most basic parts of cooking in the US, how we write recipes.
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zianitori
along the lines of the gluttony stuff there's also that stuff where things that have more distinctive tastes, things that are more flavorful, are somehow more sinful like what that freak kellog believed and having a cake that can be described to be quite decadent esp in comparison to angelfood cake feels like it fits in with that. it's so cool how christians have a thing for denying themselves anything they could take pleasure in so they can conjure retributive sentiments towards anyone who looks to be enjoying life too much, i love living in a death cult where the average person would rather take their own eyes out than suffer their neighbor having clearer vision than them
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along the lines of the gluttony stuff there's also that stuff where things that have more distinctive tastes, things that are more flavorful, are somehow more sinful like what that freak kellog believed and having a cake that can be described to be quite decadent esp in comparison to angelfood cake feels like it fits in with that. it's so cool how christians have a thing for denying themselves anything they could take pleasure in so they can conjure retributive sentiments towards anyone who looks to be enjoying life too much, i love living in a death cult where the average person would rather take their own eyes out than suffer their neighbor having clearer vision than them
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ggw1776
Interesting that your usual insistence for well-sourced claims is seemingly absent when you go into your discussion of the potential race-driven connection with purity colors - especially after acknowledging that purity in other cultures is also associated with brighter colors (again, unsourced. And no, Source: I think it might be true does not work.
Yes, people were very racist, but that doesn't mean everything that people did was driven by racism. I know you're in your retirement, but this felt very sloppy compared to your usual output.
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Interesting that your usual insistence for well-sourced claims is seemingly absent when you go into your discussion of the potential race-driven connection with purity colors - especially after acknowledging that purity in other cultures is also associated with brighter colors (again, unsourced. And no, Source: I think it might be true does not work.
Yes, people were very racist, but that doesn't mean everything that people did was driven by racism. I know you're in your retirement, but this felt very sloppy compared to your usual output.
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rolandj
As a millennial I've always associated these with 80/90s diet culture where fat = bad. Of course, given the age of these terms, that wouldn't make sense but I clearly remember Devils Food Cake having it's thing in that period with brands like Snackwells kind of marketing themselves as healthy devils food cake. But it also makes sense, as angels food is virtually fat free and therefore healthy under that paradigm, while devils food has a lot more fat from the egg yolks and chocolate and is therefore bad or devilish.
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As a millennial I've always associated these with 80/90s diet culture where fat = bad. Of course, given the age of these terms, that wouldn't make sense but I clearly remember Devils Food Cake having it's thing in that period with brands like Snackwells kind of marketing themselves as healthy devils food cake. But it also makes sense, as angels food is virtually fat free and therefore healthy under that paradigm, while devils food has a lot more fat from the egg yolks and chocolate and is therefore bad or devilish.
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tonymouannes
I highly doubt there was any raicst connotation to the names. That's more of a modern woke obsession. White and light is an easy association with angels (and has bithing to do people's skin color. Devil food seems to be meant to be the polar opposite of angel food, probably someone started it as a hike or a marketing scheme. So they went with the darkest possible thing at the time, chocolat. And they made the cake as dense as possible (while still being considered a cake and tastes good.
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I highly doubt there was any raicst connotation to the names. That's more of a modern woke obsession. White and light is an easy association with angels (and has bithing to do people's skin color. Devil food seems to be meant to be the polar opposite of angel food, probably someone started it as a hike or a marketing scheme. So they went with the darkest possible thing at the time, chocolat. And they made the cake as dense as possible (while still being considered a cake and tastes good.
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piro_travels
The truest part of this video is the prediction for comments.
One thing that always confused me about recipes from the US/UK is buttermilk and sour milk. In Hungary buttermilk is not fermented or thickened any further, so imagine my surprise when I got a carton of sludge instead of the clear liquid. The other think is that sour milk is literally just soured milk. You put milk in a sterilised jar and wait until the solids separate, then use the liquid in pancakes or polenta.
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The truest part of this video is the prediction for comments.
One thing that always confused me about recipes from the US/UK is buttermilk and sour milk. In Hungary buttermilk is not fermented or thickened any further, so imagine my surprise when I got a carton of sludge instead of the clear liquid. The other think is that sour milk is literally just soured milk. You put milk in a sterilised jar and wait until the solids separate, then use the liquid in pancakes or polenta.
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TheRealRMG
I understand where the racism angle comes from, and I'm certainly not qualified to argue with experts who put forth that theory, but based on what I have read about this subject, as well as factoring in the common naming practices of the time period, I'd say it's more than likely that angel's food cake was named for it's color and association with the purity of heaven, while devil's food cake is named that because it is the opposite of the existing angel's food cake
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I understand where the racism angle comes from, and I'm certainly not qualified to argue with experts who put forth that theory, but based on what I have read about this subject, as well as factoring in the common naming practices of the time period, I'd say it's more than likely that angel's food cake was named for it's color and association with the purity of heaven, while devil's food cake is named that because it is the opposite of the existing angel's food cake
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alicecarter9672
have you ever considered making home oven pizza while leaving the oven door open I've noticed that almost all pizza ovens have the air open to the environment, where as home ovens have it almost entirely sealed. My theory is that the build up of moisture in the air of a home oven leads to inhibited browning. In compassion the water vapor in a pizza oven could easily escape and get out of the way. Would be super interested to see what happens!
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have you ever considered making home oven pizza while leaving the oven door open I've noticed that almost all pizza ovens have the air open to the environment, where as home ovens have it almost entirely sealed. My theory is that the build up of moisture in the air of a home oven leads to inhibited browning. In compassion the water vapor in a pizza oven could easily escape and get out of the way. Would be super interested to see what happens!
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TheMimiSard
In cultural ideas of other colours being good that I know, white means death in some Asian cultures (worn at funerals, and white wedding dresses are an adoption of Western style, with at least traditional Japanese wedding kimonos being red, and I knwo even now that Indian wedding dresses are red (usually with a lot of gold embroidery. Black is an Ancient Egyptian colour of fertility, because of river soil being that colour.
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In cultural ideas of other colours being good that I know, white means death in some Asian cultures (worn at funerals, and white wedding dresses are an adoption of Western style, with at least traditional Japanese wedding kimonos being red, and I knwo even now that Indian wedding dresses are red (usually with a lot of gold embroidery. Black is an Ancient Egyptian colour of fertility, because of river soil being that colour.
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joshuarosen465
Not everything is racial. White symbolizes purity because its clean, if you bleach a fabric it becomes white. Dirt is black, the opposite of white. When a bride wears white its symbolizes virginity, that she is unsoiled, which brings us back to clean vs dirty. An angel food cake is white, angels are pure. If you make a cake that has the opposite color, chocolate, then you use the opposite metaphor, devil.
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Not everything is racial. White symbolizes purity because its clean, if you bleach a fabric it becomes white. Dirt is black, the opposite of white. When a bride wears white its symbolizes virginity, that she is unsoiled, which brings us back to clean vs dirty. An angel food cake is white, angels are pure. If you make a cake that has the opposite color, chocolate, then you use the opposite metaphor, devil.
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thomaslance5428
Well, it comes from the Western fundamentalist Christian idea of anything pleasurable being of the devil.
Speaking of pleasure, did you know the origin of corn flakes was supposed to be bland, something that wouldn't encourage feelings that pleasure brings lol. If you eat bland things you're less likely to seek out other forms of pleasure. I think it's the opposite, especially if you have adhd lol.
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Well, it comes from the Western fundamentalist Christian idea of anything pleasurable being of the devil.
Speaking of pleasure, did you know the origin of corn flakes was supposed to be bland, something that wouldn't encourage feelings that pleasure brings lol. If you eat bland things you're less likely to seek out other forms of pleasure. I think it's the opposite, especially if you have adhd lol.
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veraxis9961
For me I always took the density/lightness angle to be the primary differentiator. If it was purely about the color, then the idea of a chocolate angel's food cake as you show would be nonsensical. For me I always assumed that it was because angels' food was light and airy while devil's food was dense and rich, and probably also leaning a bit into the temptation/gluttony angle a bit for the latter.
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For me I always took the density/lightness angle to be the primary differentiator. If it was purely about the color, then the idea of a chocolate angel's food cake as you show would be nonsensical. For me I always assumed that it was because angels' food was light and airy while devil's food was dense and rich, and probably also leaning a bit into the temptation/gluttony angle a bit for the latter.
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QuantuMouse
I wonder how the fact that chocolate was a much newer discovery impacted the term. There's probably something to be said about it's newness compared to angles food. especially when you consider that the only ones who had chocolate for a long time were the rich in england. if theres any trail there it could be another way that america wanted to seperate it's self from the rest of the world.
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I wonder how the fact that chocolate was a much newer discovery impacted the term. There's probably something to be said about it's newness compared to angles food. especially when you consider that the only ones who had chocolate for a long time were the rich in england. if theres any trail there it could be another way that america wanted to seperate it's self from the rest of the world.
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originaldarkwater
Maybe, but I honestly think allegations of racism is us overlaying our modern sensibilities on this. Not that there wasn't racism, but I don't think they would have bothered to express it so subtly. If anything, the racism and the concepts of angels vs. devils are both independently attached to the concept that white = good and black = bad, but correlation is not causation.
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Maybe, but I honestly think allegations of racism is us overlaying our modern sensibilities on this. Not that there wasn't racism, but I don't think they would have bothered to express it so subtly. If anything, the racism and the concepts of angels vs. devils are both independently attached to the concept that white = good and black = bad, but correlation is not causation.
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aragusea
Alternative explanation for the Angel part of the name - with the lack of egg yolks or butter it’s a very low-fat cake, so you’re being good by eating it, good like an angel. Nowadays with what we know about sugar the sugar content might cause someone to choose a different name, but it’s too late, the name has stuck. I have no evidence for that, just a hypothesis.
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Alternative explanation for the Angel part of the name - with the lack of egg yolks or butter it’s a very low-fat cake, so you’re being good by eating it, good like an angel. Nowadays with what we know about sugar the sugar content might cause someone to choose a different name, but it’s too late, the name has stuck. I have no evidence for that, just a hypothesis.
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sanitysanitation
The Devil's food cake being a chocolate version (at least in the first recipe you showed) also plays into the relationship between the angels and their fallen counterparts, the devil and the demons.
It's been tempted by chocolate and has been made impure in a sense, in a parallel to the demons being angels plus sin or selfish desire or whatever
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The Devil's food cake being a chocolate version (at least in the first recipe you showed) also plays into the relationship between the angels and their fallen counterparts, the devil and the demons.
It's been tempted by chocolate and has been made impure in a sense, in a parallel to the demons being angels plus sin or selfish desire or whatever
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lightaces
One of the great things about angel food cake is it does not want any gluten formation, so I can make it with gluten free flour substitutes for my sister, and the rest of the family gets a cake which is every bit as good as it would be made with real flour! It also helps that it was always my sister's favorite cake before she was diagnosed with Celiac.
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One of the great things about angel food cake is it does not want any gluten formation, so I can make it with gluten free flour substitutes for my sister, and the rest of the family gets a cake which is every bit as good as it would be made with real flour! It also helps that it was always my sister's favorite cake before she was diagnosed with Celiac.
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ianferguson3998
I think a lot of this race discussion is modern (current) discussion and ideas being plastered onto older terms and ideas.
If you look for issues, you will find them if you look hard enough.
Devils food cake is called devils food because it's rich and decadent. It's the opposite of angles food cake, which is light and airy. Period.
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I think a lot of this race discussion is modern (current) discussion and ideas being plastered onto older terms and ideas.
If you look for issues, you will find them if you look hard enough.
Devils food cake is called devils food because it's rich and decadent. It's the opposite of angles food cake, which is light and airy. Period.
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erwinlimawan3158
I always thought that the Devil's food was a reference to decadence in the chocolate.
Theologically, I've always been a fan of the passage in Good Omens where upon describing an army of angels staring down an army of fallen angels, they mention how an expert, if they looked really closely, might be able to tell which was which. :)
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I always thought that the Devil's food was a reference to decadence in the chocolate.
Theologically, I've always been a fan of the passage in Good Omens where upon describing an army of angels staring down an army of fallen angels, they mention how an expert, if they looked really closely, might be able to tell which was which. :)
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MortonSeinfeld
Apparently this needs to be said: white people are not literally white, and black people are not literally black. Associating the colour white with purity, goodness, etc. is not the same as associating it with the people we refer to as white who are not in actuality. You're presuming racism where there isn't any. Very tedious.
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Apparently this needs to be said: white people are not literally white, and black people are not literally black. Associating the colour white with purity, goodness, etc. is not the same as associating it with the people we refer to as white who are not in actuality. You're presuming racism where there isn't any. Very tedious.
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