Red Velvet Peppermint Cake

Description
This is a great holiday twist on those chocolate-swirled marbled cake batters we've loved for years. It's a super-quick recipe that starts with two mixes, stirs in a few clever ingredients, such as buttermilk, cocoa, and cider vinegar, and yields a terrific cake with make-from-scratch red velvet flavor.
 * Contributed by Catsrecipes Y-Group
 * Source: Southern Living 1998 Holiday Entertaining
 * Prep: 15 minutes | Bake: 25 minutes
 * Makes 1 x 3-layer cake

Ingredients

 * 1 (18¼ oz) box white cake mix (such as Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Classic white cake mix)
 * 3 egg whites
 * 1⅓ cups buttermilk
 * 2 tbsp vegetable oil
 * 1 (9 oz) box yellow cake mix (such as Jiffy Golden yellow cake mix)
 * ½ cup buttermilk
 * 1 large egg
 * 1½ tbsp cocoa
 * ½ tsp baking soda
 * 2 tbsp liquid red food coloring
 * 1 tsp cider vinegar
 * Peppermint-Cream Cheese Frosting

Garnishes

 * Holiday Trees
 * 6 (5-inch) red and white candy canes, crushed
 * 12 (5-inch) green and white candy canes broken
 * 12 round peppermint candies

Directions

 * 1) Beat white cake mix and next 3 ingredients according to package directions.
 * 2) Beat yellow cake mix and next 6 ingredients according to package directions.
 * 3) Spoon red batter alternately with white batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.
 * 4) Swirl batter gently with a knife.
 * 5) Bake at 350°F for 22 – 25 minutes until a wooden pick comes out clean.
 * 6) Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.
 * 7) Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
 * 8) Spread peppermint-cream cheese frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.
 * 9) Garnish, if desired, and serve within 2 hours.
 * 10) Cake may be chilled up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month.
 * 11) If cake is frozen thaw completely before garnishing to prevent crushed candy from running.
 * 12) Do not refrigerate after garnishing.