Egg foams are often used to cover and conceal the heart of a dish. Among the most entertaining of these constructions is the hot, browned meringue enclosing a mass of chilly ice cream: the baked Alaska, which derives from the French omelette surprise. This thermal contrast is made possible by the excellent insulating properties of cellu-lar structures like foams. For the same reason, a cup of cappuccino cools more slowly than a cup of regular coffee.