For the Gingerbread Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Brush the inside of cake pan with melted butter and dust lightly with flour, being sure to get in every crevice. Set pan aside.

Sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl until completely blended. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and both kinds of sugar. Beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes, scraping bowl often, until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.

Reduce mixer speed and add 1/3 of flour mixture, followed by 1/3 of the milk. Continue alternating flour and milk until completely blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading slightly up onto edges of the pan. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 55 - 66 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cook cake upright in pan for 10 minutes then carefully loosen edges of cake before inverting onto a serving platter to finish cooling. When cake is cooled, decorate as desired.

For the Royal Icing: Combine the egg whites or reconstituted meringue powder, powdered sugar and cream of tartar in a large, clean, dry bowl. Using a whisk attachment, begin beating ingredients on low speed until combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl then restart mixer on medium speed and beat until the icing is very thick, shiny and white, about 7-10 minutes.

Transfer the icing to a bowl and cover immediately with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the icing to prevent drying. If using with a pastry bag, transfer icing to bag, twist bag tightly to close and cover tip with a wet paper towel to prevent drying.

When used, royal icing will dry to a very hard finish in about 15 minutes. Do not refrigerate finished items, as icing will become soft and sticky.