Sourdough Pancake Tea Cakes

1 cup sourdough starter

2 cups water

2 cups flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda dissolved in small amount of warm water

4 Tablespoons melted shortening

butter

sugar

The night before serving, combine first three ingredients and 1 ½ Tablespoons sugar in large bowl. Let stand overnight in a warm place.

The next day, remove 1 cup of mixture and return it to refrigerator. To remainder, add eggs, salt and remaining sugar. Fold in completely, but do not beat. Mix in baking soda and stir in shortening. Bake cakes, 8 to 10 inches in diameter, on 350-degree griddle. Butter each cake and sprinkle with sugar. Make a stack about eight cakes high. Using a bread knife, cut stack into six or eight pie-shaped wedges. Serve one wedge per person. Vary some stacks by spreading jelly, jam or maple-sugar butter between layers. Any remaining portions may be heated in microwave for a few seconds.

Serves six to eight.

-- Lucille and Richard Dumbrill, Newcastle