Alaskan Sourdough Fruitcake

Soak raisins and currants in 1 cup wine overnight. Remove starter from refrigerator and set, tightly covered, in warm place overnight. It should be in at least a two cup container as it will just about double its volume overnight. In the morning, cream butter with sugar and beat in eggs and lemon rind. Drain wine from raisins into creamed mixture. Stir in starter and 3 cups of the flour sifted with the soda, salt and spices. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of flour over the fruit and nuts in a large bowl. Toss and shake until well-coated. Add to batter and mix thoroughly. Turn into loaf pans which have been generously buttered. Let stand in warm place for 30 minutes. Bake in oven preheated to 300ºF.  with a pan of water on floor of oven and rack as near as possible in middle of oven. Bake about 2-1/2 hours for medium-sized loaves watching carefully to see that they do not brown to quickly. Test with toothpick. Remove from oven, turn pans on sides and allow to set for a few minutes before taking from pans. When cold drip 2 tbsp. of wine over each cake. As soon as it is absorbed, wrap tightly in cellophane freezer paper and store in refrigerator or freezer. They improve with age.

From: Breads and Coffee Cakes with Homemade Starters Shared By: Pat Stockett From Geminis MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini