This Indian Eggless Cake Rusk are crispy and crunchy, sweet and delicious tea time treats. Skip the store-bought ones and make them at home instead, you won’t believe how easy it is!
WHAT IS RUSK?
Rusk is very similar to Italian biscotti. It is simply a twice-baked cake/bread. There are two kinds of rusk that are very popular in India, one is cake rusk and the other is milk rusk. What is the difference between the two? Cake Rusk is simply twice-baked cake and milk rusk is twice baked enriched bread. Both are equally delicious!
WHAT THEN IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOAST AND RUSK?
Toast is a dry toasted bread, browned by dry roasting in a toaster, skillet or oven. Rusk, on the other hand, like I’ve mentioned is baked twice.
Today’s post is all about an eggless cake rusk recipe. I’ll leave the milk rusk for another day!
HOW TO MAKE CAKE RUSK?
To make this rusk biscuit, pick your favorite eggless cake, cut it into slices and bake again until crisp and golden. For this homemade rusk recipe, I used my go-to eggless cake, the resultant rusk toast was just perfect, crisp and crunchy that tasted super delicious 🙂
If you don’t like making a cake from scratch, feel free to make this cake rusk from cake mix. After baking the cake, follow the last three steps mentioned in the recipe instructions.
HOW TO EAT CRISPY CAKE RUSK?
Since rusks are dry and hard biscuits, they are best dunked in some liquid, like milk, coffee or my favorite thing to pair them with is chai. It becomes soft and just melts in your mouth. Beware, it is so addictive that you may lose track of how many you’ve eaten. Cake Rusk and chai is one of those things that sends me down memory lane in an instant! Sheer nostalgia!
I used to buy these cake rusk from the Indian store until I happened to see the ingredients. I wasn’t too pleased to see what went into it. So, I decided to try making them at home, and it was an instant hit. My homemade rusks were so good that they were wiped out in two days.
If you love these crispy munchies as much, do try this simple rusk recipe soon 🙂
LOVE THIS CAKE RUSK? THEN YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE TEATIME TREATS
- Karachi bakery style fruit biscuits (eggless)
- Badam Pista biscuits
- Eggless coconut cookies
- Whole wheat and oats Digestive cookies
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE INDIAN CAKE RUSK
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C, position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a 7 x 7-inch square pan or 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with little butter and dust with flour to coat the pan, or you may use parchment paper.
2.In a medium mixing bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add salt, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
3.In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, scraping down in between, should take about 2-3 minutes. Or you can use an electric hand mixer/beater.
4.Add in the yogurt next, continue beating on medium-high speed.
5.In goes the vanilla extract/cardamom powder next. Beat on medium speed for another 30 seconds.
6.Now reduce to the lowest possible speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. (DO NOT OVER MIX).
7.Transfer the batter to the baking pan. Gently tap it on the counter 2-3 times to remove the air bubbles. Bake on the middle rack for 40-45 min or until the toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
8.Cool the cake on a rack in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on the rack completely. Let the cake cool down completely, at least for an hour. If you try slicing it when it is warm, it will be crumbly, as this is a soft cake.
9.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/ 180 degrees C. Once completely cool, cut the cake into 1/2 inch slices. Cut the cake in the middle and start cutting 1/2 inch pieces from there on.
10.Place the cake slices on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes on one side or until a light golden brown.
11.Remove the tray from the oven, flip the slices gently and bake for another 20 – 25 minutes.
12.Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool completely. Store them in an airtight container when they are completely cool.
HOW TO MAKE INDIAN CAKE RUSK?
Cake Rusk | Indian Cake Rusk (Eggless)
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 1 & 1/2 cups / 214 grams / 7.5 oz unbleached all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup / 210 grams / 7.4 oz granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup / 113 grams / 4 oz unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup / 115 grams / 4 oz yogurt/dahi, non-sour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt, skip if using salted butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C, position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a 7 x 7-inch square pan or 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with little butter and dust with flour to coat the pan, or you may use parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add salt, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, scraping down in between, should take about 2-3 minutes. Or you can use an electric hand mixer/beater.
- Add in the yogurt next, continue beating on medium-high speed.
- In goes the vanilla extract/cardamom powder next. Beat on medium speed for another 30 seconds.
- Now reduce to the lowest possible speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. (DO NOT OVER MIX).
- Transfer the batter to the baking pan. Gently tap it on the counter 2-3 times to remove the air bubbles. Bake on the middle rack for 40-45 min or until the toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake on a rack in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on the rack completely. Let the cake cool down completely, at least for an hour. If you try slicing it when it is warm, it will be crumbly, as this is a soft cake.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/ 180 degrees C. Once completely cool, cut the cake into 1/2 inch slices. Cut the cake in the middle and start cutting 1/2 inch pieces from there on.
- Place the cake slices on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes on one side or until a light golden brown.
- Remove the tray from the oven, flip the slices gently and bake for another 20 - 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool completely. Store them in an airtight container when they are completely cool.
PIN IT FOR LATER
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Regards,
Freda
Hi, tried ur recipe…but my rusks were goey in the center though they taste yum… kindly help where did I go wrong? Followed the recipe to t.
Thanks
Hi Uma! It looks like you under baked it. You could have baked it a little longer. If the top is browning too fast, you can cover the pan with foil and continue baking. Did the toothpick come out clean? Are your baking soda and powder fresh?
All your recipes are superb …
Bless you dear.
Thanks so much, Kalai 🙂
They turned out amazing!! We loved how they tasted. Only problem is they got soft the next day and weren’t crunchy at all. We cooked them 25 minutes on each side after cutting them so not sure what happened? Any suggestions on how to solve this for next time?
Hello Hagar! I’m glad you loved these! Next time, probably add 10 minutes more baking time for each side. What oven did you use? microwave, OTG or gas range ? For now you can fix the current batch. Lay the rusks on a baking sheet and put it back in a preheated oven at 250 degree F or 120 C. Bake for 10 minutes, then let them cool on a wire rack. They should crisp up again. Store it in the container only once they cool down.
Hello!
I baked these, but after they cooled down I broke a piece into half to taste them, I found that the center is a bit gooey 🙁
I followed the recipe exactly, do you have any idea why that happened?
Hi Wadha! It’s difficult to tell what may have happened. What size pan did you use? Did you check if your baking powder and soda are fresh? Did you measure your ingredients correctly? Did you avoid over mixing the batter, I would really like to know more details so that I can help. Thanks
I stumbled upon your recipe while searching for rusk sans yeast because I’m running out and it’s hard to find in stores. Covid19 has turned us all into Martha Stewarts. This is a mind-blowing recipe. You’re very talented. The best cake rusk ever. And even as a cake by itself, it’s absolutely divine. I made some healthy swaps: I did half whole-wheat flour and half all purpose flour. I also used cardamom!and used coconut milk (instead of milk) and avocado oil (instead of butter). It was the best! Thanks so very much for this recipe! So grateful!
Haha 😀 Yup, that’s true, everyone is cooking more, given the limited options! So glad the rusks turned out well with your substitutions, thanks for sharing your feedback with us 🙂
Hi….at what temperature we have to bake it for second time…my rusks turned very Dark colour… though the taste is too good….
Hi! It’s the same temperature as the one we bake the cake at. Next time, you can reduce the temperature and bake for a longer time.
Oh my, cake rusks are family favourite but like you mentioned when you see the ingredients list, you stop buying. You have baked them to perfection, just need masala chai 🙂
rusk are looking really great with tea I can imagine the taste. I dont buy from store. But definitely gonna try this.
The rusk from cake looks so crunch n delicious as well !! Lovely share freda for tea time 🙂
Cake rusk is what I need with the mug of coffee I’m having right now. I’ve yet to make them.Cardamom flavor sounds good.
The cake rusk looks so perfectly baked. I need to try them for my girls as they love them.
These rusk look so good and ideal with a cup of hot chai. Wonderful share.
I love to dunk crispy stuff in my tea and coffee, and cake rusk tops the list. In fact they are so addictive it’s hard to stop at just a few. 😉😊 Thank you for this lovely recipe for homemade cake rusk.
Hi Freda. These seemed nice.I was acrually wanting to know if u know the recipe for sooji rusks.They are so so so popular.Ive searched for a recipe for them but surprisingly couldn’t find it!! Today ur recipe just reminded me of those sooji rusks & I just couldn’t help asking you.
Hi! Yes I’ve been meaning to make a post on that, I’ve seen those in stores, but haven’t tried them out. You can pick up a rava cake, you will find the recipe on my blog right on the first page, bake it twice, the same procedure for these cake rusk. I think it should work out fine. You may have to keep a watch on the baking time.
Can cinnamon and raisins be added to these?
Hi Karen! Yes, you can definitely add both.
OMG!!!! I never knew a simple cake can be made into a cake rusk. No more store-bought cake rusks…need to try this eggless one ASAP! Thanks so much dear for this amazing share..will try soon!
Bookmarked this recipe will try once I am free..Rusk is my favorite with my morning tea I just love it. Thanks for sharing.
A cake rusk is on my to do list from a long time..thanks for thistlovely share..bookmarking this recipe
Wow I love the idea, we love Rusk a lot so I will be making these at my place soon.
Another dish in my to do list .I too always avoid the outside food or processed food, would love to try this. And thank you for the detailed write up on rusk and toast.
Once you are done baking the first time, is that soft cake edible? I wanted to see if I can keep some for my little one:-)
Yes, JS! It is a regular vanilla cake. If you eat eggs, you can replace the yogurt with 2 eggs. You can also make cupcakes with the batter, bake for around 18-20 minutes. Keep an eye after 18 minutes.
I made with your recipe n everyone liked it vy much ..thks fr sharing your recipe
This is such a wonderful idea! It sounds like Italian biscotti – yum! I would love to try this in the future. Thanks for sharing! x
Nice idea….What is the shelf life?
I really can’t tell you exactly, as it got over within 2 days. If stored properly in an air tight container It should be good for 1-2 weeks, since it’s dry.