Kalmia wrote:

> I copy this verbatim from my mother's old recipe book.
>
> Beat 2 egg whites - add yolks and beat - add 1 C sugar and beat { I
> confess, I didn't get out the elec. mixer, but just used a big whisk}
>
> Add 1 C flour
> 1/3 tsp. salt
> 1 tsp. baking powder
> 1 tsp. flavoring { I used vanilla and added a bit of cinnamon}
>
> Heat 1/2 C milk with 1 T. butter - add to above mixture.
> Pour into loaf pan.
> 350 for 40 minutes
>
> It didn't rise more than 2 inches. Any ideas? Was it due to the wimpy
> beating, d'ya think?


I think the people who already replied have hit on the most likely causes.
When I read your initial post, the first thing I wondered was whether the
recipe had baking powder, because old baking powder could definitely have
cause the cake not to rise. But even without any baking powder at all, the
beaten egg whites *should* have given lift to the cake: The air trapped as
bubbles in the beaten egg whites expands when heated, which causes the
bubbles to get bigger, and their expansion lifts the cake. Two things can
cause this not to happen: (1) The bubbles get burst by working the batter
too much after the egg whites are beaten. For this reason, beaten egg whites
are usually folded in gently after everything else is mixed. (2) If the egg
whites are not beaten enough, rather than having a multitude of small
bubbles, you'll have larger bubbles which will rise to the top of the batter
and pop before they can expand. In a recipe of this type, the egg whites
should usually be beaten until they hold soft peaks and folded in as the
last step just before the cake goes into the oven.

I'd modify the recipe as follows:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Separate two eggs. Beat the egg yolks along with one cup of sugar and one
teaspoon "flavor".

Beat the egg whites separately until they hold soft peaks.

In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 cup all-purpose flour (or cake flour),
1/3 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon baking powder. (The reason for doing this
is that the baking powder will cause the batter to start to froth as soon as
it's added to liquid. By keeping all the dry ingredients separate until it's
just about time to put the cake into the oven, that frothing action is
delayed until it's most appropriate.)

Heat 1/2 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of butter. Don't heat the milk too
much; you want the butter just barely melted. If the milk is too hot, it
will cook the egg yolks when you add the milk to them in the next step.

Beating on low speed, add half the milk to the egg-yolk mixture. Stir in
half the flour mixture, then beat to remove lumps. Add the remaining milk;
beat until just barely incorporated. Add the rest of the flour and beat to
remove lumps. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites: To fold in, a spatula
works best. You don't want to beat the batter at this point; you just want
to distribute those egg-white bubbles throughout the batter without bursting
them. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes, or until cake springs back when the middle is
lightly depressed.

Good luck!

Bob