Chocolate Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese-Butter Pecan Frosting

cindylou, my mom always cut parchment "circles" and placed them in the bottom of cake pans. This always prevented the cake from sticking to the bottom of the pans. After baking she would run a knife around the edges, then turn out on to a cooling rack, then simply peel the parchment paper away. I see that you posted this a long time ago but hope this may still be helpful to you.

I wanted more chocolate in my cake and added 1/2 cup of cocoa to the recipe. 3 cake pans are necessary. Batter seems thin after adding the cup of hot water but it turns out great! Everyone loved the cake; I will be making it again. I frosted it with buttermilk-cream cheese frosting and used chocolate cream filling between the layers.

I made this cake for Christmas 2013. It was well worth the effort. It is my favorite cake I've ever made. It is wonderfully rich and sweet all together. I did everything according to the directions and I couldn't be more pleased!

I have baked this cake for years and it has become known as the "Heaven" cake. Someone once told me this cake will be on the table in Heaven when we get there; it is that good. I make the batter exactly as published but I have changed the icing a little. I cut the cream cheese and the powdered sugar amounts in half. I only use one 8 oz package of cream cheese and 16 oz of powdered sugar. This amount still makes plenty of icing to cover the cake but not so sweet and rich. Absolutely the best cake ever!!

I have made this cake numerous times and it is fantastic and gets rave reviews from everyone. It is one of the easiest cakes I have made and it is very moist. Not for dieters but worth it!

Not a fan. I am an experienced baker (30 years plus) and this cake was the biggest flop ever. The cake would NOT come out of the pan (and the pans were well greased and floured) - after tearing them apart to get them out of the pan, the icing would not stay on the cake because it crumbled as i iced it. Pretty upset as I am having out of town guests in an hour and i have no dessert! I have the cake in the freezer now to see it freezing it will help the icing adhere. Not sure what i did wrong, but won't be making this one again! Note to others.....if you are having guests and decide to make this cake, you might want to rethink it! Practice first. If any of you have ideas what i could have done wrong, i would love to hear your thoughts!

This is the best cake I have ever made it. I have made it on several occasions and never had it not turn out. I have never served this and not had people oh and ah over it and ask for the recipe. FABULOUS!! No deviation from the recipe - it's perfect as is.

Heard about this cake from a friend. I made this cake for our family Christmas party and my husband said it is the best cake he has ever eaten. Very decadent and easy to make. Will definitely make this recipe again! I might increase frosting to a recipe and an additional half.