Armadillo Grooms Cake Instructions:

I'm often asked where I got the pan for this whimsical armadillo cake. To my knowledge, there is no pan available, but sculpting it by hand may be easier than you think. Hand-sculpted, three dimensional cakes can be a lot of fun, and they allow for a lot of creativity. The idea isn't necessarily to make the cake look realistic, but more like a caricature of the object being portrayed. Most importantly, it should be fun to make and taste good!

For this armadillo cake, start with two round cake layers. (The size you use depends on the size of cake you want to end up with. Remember that some of your cake will be lost in the sculpting process.) Simply cut the layers in half and stand the four halves side by side in a row, cut edges facing down. Spread frosting between these layers to hold them together in one large mass.

Now you're ready to sculpt. (It helps to have a picture of your object to look at for this -- several pictures from different angles is best. To reduce mess, cover your table with a large sheet of plastic, and place your cake on a turntable in the middle.) Using a serrated knife, such as a steak knife, gradually "pare" the cake mass into the shape of your object. Working slowly, take off small amounts at a time, turning your cake to look at it from different angles as you go. With the armadillo, you only have to worry about the shape of the body here, because the head, tail, and feet are added later. Once you are satisfied with the basic shape, crumb coat the body.

For the textures on the armadillo's body, use a rose tip, making stripes around his mid-section, and covering his shoulders and rear sections with "scales" of a sort. Use round tips (in an assortment of sizes) to pipe his claws, tail, and even his head. Then, again use the rose tip to pipe the rows of texture on his tail and to pipe his ears. When the head is crusted over, make two indentions for the eyes and pipe them on with a round tip. For a final touch, pipe some green grass around your armadillo with a grass / hair tip.

As you can see, this armadillo cake design is covered and decorated entirely in buttercream. For the sake of convenience and realism, you could also use fondant to mold the head, ears, and tail, or even cover the entire cake, if you like. If you're going for the authentic Steel Magnolias "bleeding armadillo" effect, be sure to bake your cake in red velvet! Enjoy!