Cake Rusk (Twice-Baked Crunchy Cake Slices)
کیک رس
Cake rusk is the long, golden, crunchy biscuit that Pakistanis dip into their morning and evening chai. It's made by baking a simple vanilla butter cake, cutting it into thick slices and baking them again on low heat until they're dry and crisp all the way through. Soaked briefly in hot tea, they turn soft and cakey again. Homemade cake rusk is richer than most bakery versions and keeps for weeks in a tin.
- ⏱ Total: 1 hr 50 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Cook: 1 hr 30 min
- Medium
- Serves 24
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Heat the oven to 175°C and line a loaf tin or 20 cm square tin. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla.
Fold in the flour and baking powder alternately with the milk, plus the fennel if using. Pour into the tin and bake for 35–40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool the cake completely, ideally overnight; a cold cake slices neatly. Cut into 1.5 cm slices, then cut each slice into fingers if using a square tin.
Lay the slices flat on trays and bake at 130°C for 40–50 minutes, turning once, until golden and completely dry and crisp. Cool on the trays.
Serve with hot chai for dipping.
Kitchen notes
Slice the cake cold. Warm cake crumbles and gives uneven rusks.
The second bake is a slow drying, not browning. Keep the oven low.
Cool completely before storing in an airtight tin; they keep 3–4 weeks.
Made for dunking
Rusk came to South Asian bakeries during colonial times and became part of everyday life. Plain rusk is made from bread; cake rusk, made from a butter cake, is the richer, sweeter version, and it’s the favourite for dipping. In Pakistani homes a packet of cake rusk is always near the tea tin.
Baked twice
The first bake makes a simple, sturdy cake. The second, long and low, slowly dries every slice until it’s crisp right through. That dryness is what lets rusk absorb hot tea quickly without falling apart, and keep for weeks.
Flavour ideas
Bakery cake rusk is usually plain vanilla, but a teaspoon of fennel seeds or ground cardamom in the batter gives a traditional, fragrant twist. Some bakeries brush the slices with a little sugar syrup before the second bake for a glossy top. For a richer rusk, add a handful of chopped almonds to the batter. Whatever you choose, keep the slices even in thickness so they dry at the same rate.
Serving
Serve with doodh patti, masala chai or coffee. Rusk also works as the cake layer under a quick pudding, as in Turkish supangle.
Questions people ask
Is cake rusk the same as biscotti?
Similar idea, twice-baked. Biscotti are usually firmer and made from a dough log; cake rusk is made from a soft butter cake, so it's lighter.
Can I use a leftover cake?
Yes. Any plain sponge or pound cake can be sliced and dried into rusk.
Why are my rusks soft in the middle?
They needed longer in the low oven. Return them until completely dry.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 110
- Protein
- 2 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 15 g
