Peppermint Poke Cake

We all know that I love Pinterest recipes, and for good reason.  Now that it's December, it's time for me to switch from pumpkin to peppermint as my baking obsession.  I needed to make a dessert for a meeting at our house tonight, and I turned to this recipe I'd found for Better Than Christmas Cake.  It was super easy and super delicious.  The only problem was that it had to refrigerate for 4-6 hours before it was served, so I had to make it yesterday and then wait more than 24 hours to taste its peperminty goodness.  It was pure torture, but so very worth it.

I started by baking a plain old Devil's Food cake mix.  I doctored it up by adding a bit of peppermint extract to the batter, because let's face it: you can never have too much peppermint.  Once it had cooled, I used a wooden meat masher handle (does that thing have a technical name?) to poke a bunch of holes all over the cake.  I may have also sampled some of the crumbs that got stuck to said handle.  They were tasty.

Then I whisked together some sweetened condensed milk (ew) and York peppermint patty creamer and poured it over the cake.  York peppermint patty creamer is almost enough to make me wish I liked coffee.  I'm strongly considering adding it to my hot chocolate next time I make it.  We have a gigantic bottle now and nobody in our house drinks flavored cream.  Or I could just make another batch of this.

The next layer was made up of a jar of hot fudge sundae topping mixed with a bit more of the peppermint creamer and poured on top of the cake again.  This picture looks much tastier than the one above which sort of looks like the cake was eaten by mold.  I assure you that it was not.

I was actually supposed to mix a cup of chopped Oreos in with the chocolate, but I forgot.  Instead, I chopped them and sprinkled them on top.  This made it a lot harder to spread the Cool Whip top layer without picking up a bunch of crumbs, but I persevered.

Then I chopped another cup full of Oreos (the red winter double stuffed kind) and sprinkled them on top of the Cool Whip.  Perfection.  All I had to do was while away the hours waiting until it could be served.

The wait was so worth it.  It was gooey and pepperminty and sweet and chocolatey and everything you could ever want in a dessert.  Well, almost.  I also enjoy peanut butter, caramel, and pumpkin pie spices, among many other things, but you get the idea.

Here was my version of the recipe:

1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix, prepared
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/4 cup York Peppermint Patty dairy creamer, divided
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 jar Kroger hot fudge sundae topping
2 cups (12 cookies) chopped double stuffed holiday Oreos, divided
8 oz. fat free Cool Whip

1.  Make the cake mix according to the directions on the box and add the peppermint extract to the batter.  Bake according to the directions and allow to cool completely.
2.  Get a straight, round kitchen utensil (ideally a wooden spoon) and poke a bunch of holes all over the cake.  Have some fun.  This is the best step.
3.  Mix 1 cup of the creamer with the can of condensed milk and pour over the cake as evenly as possible.
4.  Warm the hot fudge topping in the microwave for 30 seconds and then mix together with the remaining 1/4 cup of the creamer.  Stir in 1 cup of the chopped Oreos.  Pour this on top of the cake too.
5.  Spread the Cool Whip over the cake in a smooth, even layer.
6.  Sprinkle the remaining Oreos over the top so that they look pretty.
7.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours so that the delicious ingredients have time to soak into the cake.

Makes 24 servings, 301 calories each according to my MyFitnessPal recipe calculator.