Have you ever had to work with someone whose actions caused you to hear your mom’s voice inside your head saying things like “everyone gets a turn,” or even “let’s be nice”? When my friend, Dee, heard her kids complain repeatedly about the particularly frustrating behavior of certain adults in their lives, she used to tell her kids to think of them as “negative role models.” She said that just as it’s important to have good examples of how you would like to behave, it’s also valuable to have examples of how you would NOT like to behave.

Year in and year out, I post recipes on this site that have a lot going for them. Made from whole foods, with plenty of produce, legumes, nutritious fats and high-quality protein, they are great examples of nutritious food. This week I thought I’d try another tack, presenting a recipe that has nothing going for it. This recipe for angel food cake is like a negative role model. Its best use is as an example of what NOT to eat.

First, let’s look at the intro: “This homemade angel food cake has straight-from-the-oven taste and warmth.” Well yes, it’s warm when you take it out of the oven. Then it says that “fresh raspberries top this wonderful cake and sticky raspberry sauce runs down the side.” Notice the emphasis on the fruit; you see that a lot, especially lately, since there’s no question about the nutritional value of fresh fruit. It closes with a couple of cute plays on the “angel” theme: “Your guests will think you’re an ANGEL if you serve this cake,” Or “bake it tonight and make an ordinary dinner with the family HEAVENLY.” Get it?

Here is the ingredient list: The batter calls for 12 egg whites (ok, one redeeming feature here, I concede), a cup of cake flour, 1 1 /2 cups sugar plus 2 more tablespoons, cream of tartar, vanilla and lemon extract, and a pinch of salt. Cake flour is finer than all-purpose flour, so it gets absorbed into your gut (and then bloodstream) even faster. Then 34 tablespoons of sugar? Come on — how can anyone believe this is better for you than chocolate mousse or pumpkin pie? But wait, there’s more. The sauce contains 1 cup of raspberries, lemon juice, and then 4 tablespoons of granulated artificial sweetener. In case it wasn’t sweet enough already.

There is one reason, and one reason alone, to eat this recipe. And that is if you absolutely adore angel food cake. Then you should make it, and enjoy it, though not very often. But if you think you’re doing your family a favor by choosing this dessert, you’re not. The amount of stripped carb (sugar and flour) in this recipe is sky high, and there’s no fat whatsoever to delay its absorption and blunt the blood sugar spike.

If you’re thinking about alternatives by now, consider a Portuguese orange cake, or good old-fashioned brownies with walnuts, or a breathtaking display of fresh fruits.

Best wishes to all for a happy holiday season!