Did You Know you can make cake rusks at home?

I didn't.

Not until I moved to a forsaken land where you had to drive to a supermarket far far away to get the best cake rusk. All the other ones had been tried and rejected. Back then, I also didn't know that my husband was a cake rusk fanatic.

So, as I usually do with things I want more information on, I googled it, and sure enough, there it was - a cake rusk recipe. And as usually happens when you google something, there was another and another - more than 1.7 million results. Learning from Google is a lot of work.

What is Cake Rusk

Nothing but a double-baked vanilla cake. In short, you bake a vanilla cake, cut it into manageable thin slices and bake those again at a low temperature to let them dry out like biscuits.

Butter

After having grown up watching my mom put together some effortless oil sponge cakes, the fact that anything other than the eggs in a cake could need beating was lost on me; as well as the fact that butter is a complicated thing. Your cake depends totally on whether you melt it, soften it, beat it, cream it, or just fold it in. Scary words, those, for a beginner like me.

Its easy to melt butter. Just put it in the microwave until you see it start to go liquid. Softening is NOT the same thing. Softened butter is semi-solid, like a thick cream. To soften 100gms of butter straight out of the fridge, about 15-20 seconds in the microwave at full power should be enough. The butter will still hold its shape. You'll know the butter is softened when it becomes pliable and you're able to press it down with a spoon or beat it with a whisk. This recipe requires that the butter be softened, not melted.

Since the first step is creaming the butter, I'll start with a little note here. My first lesson on creaming came from the woodlandbakeryblog. It explains the intricacies of how creaming and foaming work and how they're different. I for one never knew there was so much technology to a cake. Creaming is nothing but beating softened butter with sugar until it becomes fluffy. And no, your cake will not turn out just the same if you just dump everything in a bowl all at once and beat.

The Recipe

Yields about 14 pieces of cake rusk - standard loaf tin (13x24 cm) of moist vanilla cake. Just double the ingredients if you're using a 24cm square cake pan.

Ingredients

1. Softened unsalted Butter - 100gms
2. Granulated white sugar - 120 ml (4 fl oz)
3. Medium eggs - 3
4. All Purpose Flour - 240gms (8 fl oz)
5. Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
6. Vanilla Essence - 1/2 teaspoon

The Process

1. In a wide bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes with an electric mixer, longer with a hand whisk.
2. Add the vanilla essence and eggs and beat till combined and thickened
3. Combine the flour and baking powder well by sieving them together into the bowl.
4. Beat till the dry ingredients are well combined with the batter and the batter is light and fluffy.
5. Prepare a loaf tin (rectangular 13cm x 24cm) - Spread some oil on the bottom and sides and sprinkle some dry flour over it to coat all inner surfaces of the tin. This step may be skipped if using a non-stick tin.
6. Preheat the oven or Microwave on Convection 180 degrees C.
7. Place the tin in the centre of the oven (low rack of the Microwave) and bake for about 35 - 45 minutes or until done. A clean dry knife or skewer inserted in the centre of the cake should come out clean or with dry crumbs, not batter.
8. Allow the tin to cool for upto ten minutes before slicing the cake breadth wise into thin slices, about 12 - 14. The oven / microwave should be allowed to cool to room temperature meanwhile.
9. Arrange the slices on baking trays / racks and bake at 150 degrees C, without preheating the oven, for about 15 - 20 minutes, till the slices are sufficiently crisp and dry. If using a solid tray, turn over the slices after the first half of the baking time.
10. Allow the slices to cool to room temperature before serving or storing in an airtight box.