Cake Rusk (Indian/Pakistani Biscotti Recipe)

Today, I am going to share a unique recipe from my homeland, Pakistan. It is the recipe of the famous cake-rusks made at local bakeries. These are served as the favorite tea time snack and everyone enjoys it with a hot cup of tea. These are crunchy and crispy cookies just like the Italian biscotti.

These Pakistani biscottis are commonly used in every house, and everyone in Pakistan or India is familiar with these little pieces of heaven, which are technically simple cake pieces first baked and then dried in the oven. This easy recipe is baked in a square pan. First step is to bake the cake and then using a sharp knife the cake is cut into 1-inch thick slices and placed on a baking sheet with parchment paper. I usually use silicone mats and find them the best for baking cookies. In the final step, the pieces are baked in the middle rack of a preheated oven for about an hour.

Here in the United States it is not hard to get the cake rusks as they are easily available in desi stores. But the issue with these store-bought rusks is that they are not fresh and it is hard to get the authentic taste for which they are known back-home. The solution – bake them easily at home. This will be your new favorite tea-time snack.

Texture: These rusks are crisp with a dark golden brown color and made with only just few basic ingredients.

While the traditional cake rusks are made with a few simple ingredients and a simple baking method, there are many variations that can be done to the traditional rusks.

The cake rusk are like Italian biscottis. You have to bake both of these twice in the preheated oven at different temperature. The difference being that for cake rusk we use simple plain cake and for biscottis we use a hard biscuit dough.

The crispy rusk texture is due to the baking procedure which makes the delicious treat. The oven temperature is important for this recipe to make a crispy cake rusk batch. The original recipe calls for baking the cake pieces twice, and the second bake is critical.

You only need a few simple ingredients for this recipe. These ingredients are usually readily available in the pantry.

All-purpose flour

Sugar

Eggs

Vanilla Essence

Cardamom Powder

Butter

Baking powder

Yes, you may use the yellow food color in the recipe. It will give a good color to the rusks. Simply add a ¼ teaspoon of yellow food color to the batter before adding the dry ingredients.

Yes, you can easily double the recipe and use a 9 x 13 pan instead of the 9-inch pan in the recipe.

Yes, baking the cake rusks twice is necessary as you have to dry out the cake rusks (just like the biscottis) in the oven to get the crunchy and crispy texture.

Over the Counter: These cookies will stay fresh in an air-tight container for about 1 weeks. But my personal experiences tells me they don't last that long in the house.

In the Fridge: You can keep them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

In the Freezer: Wrap the cake rusks in plastic wraps and store them in the freezer for up to three months.

Chocolate Brownies

Brown Sugar Pecan Coffee Cake

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Victoria Sponge Cake