Beating eggs for cake batter: What is the purpose?

V. asks: I have a basic yellow cake recipe that uses 4 large whole eggs. I wanted to know if beating the whole eggs until they are a light pale yellow and foamy and then adding them to the cake batter causes the cake to have more rise than it would with just the baking powder? Does beating the eggs prior to adding to the cake batter have any other benefits?

Baking S.O.S. says: You are absolutely right. The purpose of beating the eggs is to incorporate air into them, which in turn will help the cake rise a little more than relying on baking powder alone.  When heated (in the oven), the air bubbles in the eggs will expand, causes the cake to rise more. That is the only purpose I know of for beating eggs for cake batter.