LOUISIANA SYRUP CAKE

Steps:

• Make the cake: preheat oven to 350°; grease and flour a 9-inch square or round cake pan.
• In a bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt; stir with a fork to mix well.
• In a big bowl, combine the vegetable oil, cane syrup, and egg; stir with a fork or whisk to combine well.
• Add about 1/3 or the flour mixture to the syrup mixture and then stir gently, just until the flour disappears.
• Add the baking soda to the hot water, and then stir about half the water into the batter.
• Stir another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the remaining water, and finally the remaining flour, stirring gently each time just to mix everything well.
• Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched gently in the center, and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.
• Make the frosting: In a bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy; add in half the powdered sugar, the vanilla, and salt; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.
• Add the remaining powdered sugar and the cane syrup, and beat until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the bowl and mix well.
• To complete: if cake is round, cool the cake in the pan on a rack, for 10 minutes, turn it out of the pan, and place it, top side up, on a wire rack to cool completely; place cooled cake on a serving plate or cake stand, top side down, and spread the frosting over it generously, covering the top and sides.
• If it is square, spread the icing over the cooled cake right in the pan, and cut into squares to serve; serve warm, right from the pan.