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
Hi Manali,
I wanted to make this recipe soon but I didn’t have any vanilla extract. I was wondering if you could skip the vanilla extract or use any substitute?
Thanks in advance
hmm you need some flavor, maybe add some cardamom powder? or 1/4 teaspoon almond extract?
Made it today and they turned out fantastic. Really good recipe. Next time I will try your eggless Rusk recipe.
Thank you for the recipe, Manali!!
I tried this recipe and my cake rusk did not come out dark brown. I also forgot to sift the dry ingredients, could that have been it?
it could be an issue with your oven temperature. i would suggest getting an oven thermometer and checking the actual temperature of your oven
Thank you so much for this recipe! DO you think you could make one that is low-calorie?
sorry haven’t tried making it low cal
What may use as replacement of eggs for this recipe?
you can try chia egg or flax egg
Hello Manali!
I recently made this recipe for my parents & they loved it! Thanks so much for sharing! 😀
The only thing is: I have glass pans so I had to bake the cake 10-20 minutes longer to match your bake colour on your cake photo which is totally fine…
If I want to double the recipe to make 36 cake rusks, do you think I should use a 9 x 13 glass pan? Also how long do you think I should bake the cake if I’m doubling this recipe?
9 x 13 pan would take less time to bake, I would say check around 30 minutes
I have literally been making this every other day ever since I got this recipe. They finish so quickly I have to keep making more. We will never buy store bought cake rusks again!
yay! 🙂
Can’t it be made without eggs?
I haven’t tested this recipe without eggs, when I make a eggless one, I will post it on the blog
if I pack them in a plastic bag, how long it is going to be still crunchy and good?
store in an airtight container and they will be okay for 2 weeks
calories in food are they 99 calories per one rusk or 18?
calories is a rough estimate calculated automatically by a plugin. So this is not 100% accurate. the plugin divided the total calories by number of servings , since this recipes makes 18 rusks, the calorie here is given for 1 rusk
Hi Manali, the minimum setting on my oven is 350F. How long should I bake on those settings? Thanks!
hmm that’s strange, I have never seen a oven with a minimum setting of 350 F , so many recipes require much less baking temperature. Please check again
Can I use store bought pound cake and follow your hardening procedure? Will it have same taste !! Any idea
yes you can try!
Hi,
I made it using monk sugar and rusk came out super delicious. They were buttery flavor and exactly like indian rusk. The only problem that I faced was that the batter was extremely thick and it was almost like cookie dough and was hard to transfer to the pan. Should I add some mild to make it a little less sticky next time? Will it change anything?
you can add some milk
Manali, you are simply superb. I tried a few of your recipes and they all are so easy to follow. The end result is very thrilling. This is the first time I made rusks. I added fennel seeds for flavour and used 3/4 cup of sugar. My wife went crazy eating them. She never liked anything before this and she is very picky eater. Thank you for being there and helping us enjoy food that we would go to a restaurant to enjoy. I wish I could share the pic. Keep up the good work. #CookWithManali
I am so glad to know! 🙂
Hi Manali,
I love these cake rusk recipe. Can i double the recipe?
yes you may!
This is an amazing recipe! We’ve been buying and eating store bought cake rusk for years. This is even better than store bought. I baked the 1X recipe in a 9×9 square cake pan and they turned out narrow (they looked like biscotti) but still tasted delicious. I’ll be baking the 2X version in the same pan next. Thanks for this recipe 🙂
I normally don’t leave comments, but after making this recipe several times, I must! Love this recipe and can’t imagine ever going back to store-bought. Thank you 🙂
Switched the all purpose flour for oat flour, eggs for flax eggs, and butter to Miyokos creamery vegan butter and it turned out to be a great vegan recipe! Doesn’t look like the pictures but tastes great. I added a pinch of cardamom and nutmeg to the batter as well for taste!
I accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder. I realized it after I kept it for baking. Let’s see how will they turn out.
oops most likely it won’t turn out well. There’s no acidic ingredient in this recipe to react with soda and that’s why the recipe calls for baking powder.
Made these today. They are delicious.