Indian Cake Rusk
Oct 14, 2013, Updated May 07, 2023
Crunchy and crispy India Cake Rusk, perfect for tea time!
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Rusks in India are a favorite tea time snack. Dipping the crispy rusk in tea is something many of us would have done when we were kids and still continue to do so.
The rusks that we get in US at the Indian storse are quite bad. They look and taste stale and because I like them so much, I would always request my mom to bring them whenever she visited us. I always wanted to try my hands on baking them up at home and finally I got around doing so.
They tasted wonderful, just like they would from my favorite bakery in India! Rusks are similar to biscotti in USA and they are also baked in the same way. You need to bake the rusks twice just like the biscottis.
When they come out of the oven for the first time, they are soft like a cake. Let them cool for around 10 minutes and then pop them back into the oven again. They bake again at a lower temperature which makes them crunchy.
Making the batter is super easy because it only involves a few basic ingredients. However it’s the baking time which might test your patience. But I have lots of patience when it comes to baking, well don’t we all have that for something we truly love doing? 🙂
Make these rusks at home, for they taste so wonderful that you will never ever buy them from the store again!
Method
Preheat the oven to 325 F.
1. Beat the butter till it becomes soft and creamy. Butter should be at room temperature.
2. Add sugar gradually and cream the butter and sugar together till it becomes smooth and creamy.
3. Add in the eggs, one by one and beat the whole mixture till it comes to a smooth consistency.
4. Add in the vanilla extract and stir till it incorporates fully in the mixture.
5. Now add the flour and baking powder slowly into wet ingredients.
6. Beat the mixture for 2-3 minutes till it looks smooth.
7. Pour the batter into a 8 x 8 square cake pan.
8. Bake the cake at 325 F for 40 minutes.
9. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes and then cut into thin slices. [Cut the cake once from the center and then into slices] The rusks will be soft at this point of time.
We will now bake the cake rusks again.
Reduce the temperature of the oven to 300 F.
10. Arrange the slices on a baking tray, leaving some space between them.
11. Put the tray into the oven and bake at 300 F for 10 minutes.
12. After 10 minutes, take out the tray and flip the rusks to bake the other side. Put the tray back into the oven and bake again for 10 minutes. Each side should appear dark golden brown after the 2nd bake.
13. Allow the cake rusks to cool completely.
14. Once cooled, the rusks will be crunchy and crispy. Store them in airtight container.
Enjoy the cake rusks with hot cup of tea!
Tips
1. Keep an eye on the rusks when you bake them for the 2nd time. They can take anywhere between 10-15 minutes to bake and after 10 minutes one should be very careful else they might also get burnt. If you think they are turning very dark brown or black, take them out immediately and flip over to bake the other side.
2. Store in an airtight container. They should stay fresh for 2 weeks or so. I am unable to tell the exact time here because these rusks didn’t last that long in my house!
Indian Cake Rusk
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.
- In a bowl sift together all purpose flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- Using your stand or hand mixer, beat the room temperature butter till it becomes soft and creamy.
- Add sugar gradually and cream the butter and sugar together till it becomes smooth and creamy.
- Add in the eggs, one by one and beat the whole mixture till it comes to a smooth consistency.
- Add in the vanilla extract and mix.
- Now add the flour and baking powder slowly into wet ingredients.
- Beat the mixture for 2 minutes till it looks smooth.
- Pour the batter into a 8 x 8 square cake pan.
- Bake the cake at 325 F for 40 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes and then cut into thin slices. [Cut the cake once from the center and then into slices] The rusks will be soft at this point of time.
- Now reduce the temperature of the oven to 300 F.
- Arrange the slices on a baking tray, leaving some space between them.
- Put the tray into the oven and bake at 300 F for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, take out the tray and flip the rusks to bake the other side.
- Put the tray back into the oven and bake again for 10 minutes.
- Each side should appear dark golden brown after the 2nd bake.
- Allow the cake rusks to cool completely.
- Once cooled, the rusks will be crunchy and crispy. Store them in airtight container.
- Enjoy the cake rusks with hot cup of tea!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Indian Cake Rusk
I would love to use self raising flour. Is it possible? If yes, how much and do I still need baking powder?
I have not tried the recipe with self raising flour but it should work and in that case you don’t need baking powder
I’ve tried this recipe so many times with cardamom powder and saffron. Comes out perfectly. Now I want to add aniseed as I’ve tried them recently in rusks bought at a public event but not sure how much. Was wondering if you had any insights?
maybe try 1/4 to 1/2 tsp and go from there
Hi Manali,
I will be baking these wonderful rusks on the weekend. When we visited tge USA we bought the fruit and Almond rusks which didn’t last, they were absolutely wonderful. My question is can I add fruit or nuts to your recipe. Thank you 🙂
yes that will work!
Hi!
I’ve made this recipe once before and it tasted amazing! I don’t have any butter on hand this time and want to make a batch of these rusks. Can I sub with vegetable oil?
Thank you!
butter gives such a wonderful flavor to these rusks so I would not recommend. Also it will change the final texture of the rusks.
I used gluten free all purpose flour and the results are really good.
Can you suggest substitute for eggs? Nd can all purpose flour be replaced with equal amounts of suji/rava?
here’s a eggless rusk recipe: https://www.cookwithmanali.com/eggless-cake-rusk/
haven’t tested with sooji and it can’t be a 1:1 replacement, will need to be tested.
Hi Manali!
I just found your recipe yesterday, thank goodness! I’ve been buying rusks in the store as an alternative to biscotti – my youngest has an anaphylactic nut allergy and I can’t find a decent non nut biscotti to either buy or make, rusks have given him the opportunity to try something similar. I actually prefer them over biscotti! I’ve been thinking about flavour profile changes, and wondered if lemon, lime or orange zest would be okay to add – can’t add the juice since the only liquid ingredient are the eggs – or subbing out some of the flour for cocoa powder to make a chocolate version? I know the flavours I mentioned wouldn’t be traditional, but I’m wondering if they’d make a change from a vanilla based profile (Can’t use almond, unfortunately).
Cardamom, cinnamon or ginger flavours, though, would be beautiful with the crunchy texture!
cardamom will be really nice and so will be orange and lemon zest 🙂
HI, I have tried the recipe with oil, adding nuts, cranberries and also some with cocoa powder. It all came out nice. I also made few muffins with my leftover batter. They also came nice.
Next I will try the rusks with fennel seeds and dry ginger powder and see the results.