Cake Rusk

Rusks have been my favourite since childhood. Love to have it dunked in some hot tea or milk. We used to get yummy rusks, loaded with lots of cashew and raisins back in Mumbai. My dad used to always get it for me. As I grew up, somewhere lost the habit of eating rusks and it was almost forgotten. After marriage and relocating to Chennai, rusks became more distant. Then few years back, Britannia launched rusks and then rusks became a regular fare at my home. I used to enjoy them with my morning tea. No one at home was too fond of it. But I used to love the dark crusted ones and would be a tad bit unhappy when at times, the packet turns out to be pale looking and dull ones.

When I got hooked on to baking some 8-9 months back, I tried making rusks once. It was with whole wheat flour and butter. I found it to be too heavy and quite rich and not what I was looking to in rusks. So, here is a guilt free recipe without butter and using very little oil. It has turned out very crispy, a bit on the crispier side. I should have removed it from the oven 2 minutes earlier for a perfect bake. Please take due care during the second round of baking and do not let the rusks brown too much or get burnt.

When I started doing my research on rusk balking, I realised that some people make cake like rusks with baking powder and others make a bread like rusk using yeast as the rising agent. I decided to bake both the kinds on the same day to see the difference myself. According to me the cakey rusks is a bit better than the bread ones, though the latter is also equally good.

Ingredients:

• Wholewheat flour 100gm
• Fine semolina 2 tbsp (25 gm)
• Salt a pinch
• Cane sugar 2 tbsp
• Baking powder 1/4 tsp
• Refined oil 1/4 cup
• Buttermilk 1/2 cup
• Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
• Chopped almonds 1 tbsp

Method:

• Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.
• Dry roast the semolina for 3-4 minutes till the raw smell goes off.
• Sieve the whole wheat flour, semolina, salt and baking powder for 3-4 times.
• Mix the buttermilk and sugar well. Add the oil and cardamom powder.
• Slowly fold the dry ingredients into the buttermilk mixture.
• Add the chopped nuts. Pour it in a nicely greased bread tin. It will be a thick batter and not a runny one.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool in the tin for 3-4 minutes.
• Gently unmould and cool on a wire rack.
• Place the cake in the refrigerator for an hour or so.
• Take it out of the refrigerator and using a long serrated bread knife, slice it neatly into around 1/2 inch thick pieces.
• Place them neatly on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

• Apply some butter on each piece. Bake them at 150 degree Celsius till one side becomes golden in colour.
• Gently flip the rusks and apply some butter on the other side too. Bake again for few minutes.
• Please keep a good watch or else you will end up with a over baked rusks like mine.
• Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
• Store in airtight containers and enjoy them with a cup of hot hot tea or cold milk.

Notes:

• To prepare buttermilk, take 1/2 cup milk at room temperature or mildly lukewarm and add a tablespoon of vinegar or 2 teaspoon of lemon juice and keep it aside for 5 minutes. Your buttermilk is ready.