Peppermint Red Velvet Shortbread Cake

Holy amazing.  Do you like red velvet cake? How about shortbread? A little bit of chocolate fudge? Sprinkled peppermint? Put them all together and it's like a dessert orchestra that you can taste in your mouth...cooked up by Beethoven.

Okay I may be giving myself too much credit.
Did I cheat? Yes. But did I spend hours in the kitchen making this? Yes. So all is fair.
I had 4 hours to make a dessert and it needed to be awesome.  Only 4 hours.

Using my creativity I combined a package of Canterbury Naturals-Fireside Peppermint Chocolate Crunch Bar Mix that I had with a regular box of red velvet cake mix....in alternating layers.

Additional ingredients: eggs, milk, butter, vegetable oil

This is the website for the mix, but they don't sell the package there. 

Basically, they give 3 packages.  The first one to use is the shortbread mix. 

So buy that. Or make it.

Butter n 3/4ths, baby.

Melt the butter and stir shortbread mixture into it. Or stir brown sugar and flour if you're making it.

Mash it into crust form in 9in pan. Put in oven at 350 F for 25-30 min.

In the mean time, mix all of your boxed red velvet cake ingredients.

Oh! The shortbread crust is ready.

(Okay part of the reason this took longer than expected was because I needed the shortbread's pan for the cake)

Pour the cake batter into the two 9in pans. Follow directions on back of box.

Perrrrfect.

Now I have my shortbread crust, red velvet cake, and the second bag of my Canterbury Naturals mixed up.

This second bag is a buttery chocolate spread.  Basically you can crush up chocolate cookies or oreos and mix it with stick of butter in the microwave. 

Now spread that chocolate butter on your shortbread crust.

Put a layer of red velvet.

Another layer of chocolate.

Spongy pores of deliciousness.

Final layer of red velvet.

Chill this in the fridge for a few hours.

Then coat it with cool whip. Yes, cool whip. Not frosting. 

An 8oz bucket of soft-as-feathers, melt-in-your-mouth cool whip.

Crush up peppermint on top.

Enjoy.

Verdict (Not necessary to read, just buy your ingredients already):

I need to make this again. For just myself.  The shortbread crust is hard to break into, as it is not like a normal crust.  However, I picked it up and ate it like a cookie with the rest of my cake.  

If this sounds silly, you won't care what anyone else thinks once you start eating it.

I sure as hell didn't.  

Also, I don't even like the combination of mint and chocolate. But this had the right about of subtleties.  The additional cool whip, red velvet cake, and shortbread disguised any conflicts my tastebuds may have had with the two ingredients.  

I also don't care if you're on a diet.

Make this and then go run a marathon the next day. If need be.  

The taste makes up for the calories.