If you've ever seen Steel Magnolias, you probably remember the iconic armadillo cake scene from the comedy-drama movie. If you haven't seen it, allow us to explain exactly what armadillo cake is, exactly, and how some people make it for real weddings today.
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What is Steel Magnolias?
Steel Magnolias is a 1989 movie starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, Julia Roberts, and many others. It revolves around the lives of women living in the south and features a southern wedding between Roberts' character, Shelby, and her fiance.
At the wedding, a groom's cake shaped like an armadillo and made out of red velvet cake is served. At one point, the father of the bride and a neighbor, who had been fighting, run into each other at the cake table and when he asks her for a slice of cake, the neighbor cuts off the butt and tail from the red velvet armadillo cake and hands it to him. He responds "nothing like a good piece of ass!" See the hilarious scene in the video below.
Armadillo Cakes Today
Groom's cakes are sometimes served alongside a wedding cake at weddings today, and some people choose to make an armadillo groom's cake. And it's not just because of the movie, either — Love to Know points out, "Many Texans embrace the armadillo as a mascot since it is the state small mammal of Texas," so it wouldn't be out of place to see a "blood red" armadillo cake at a wedding in that state.
Fans of the movie might just also choose to make it for other occasions besides weddings; it would be pretty funny to see it as a birthday cake at a birthday party for someone who lives the film, or as a "roadkill" cake at a Halloween party.
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An armadillo cake recipe can get complicated, but some simply require an instant red velvet cake mix in sheet cake pans and buttercream or cream cheese frosting colored with food coloring and shaped like an armadillo. Someone could use fondant if they so chose to, but well-designed frosting should work just fine.
There are plenty of tutorials online for making a "bleeding armadillo" cake for the groom's cake at a wedding, and you can customize it to whatever the happy couple wants. If nothing else, it'll be a little more exciting than a regular old chocolate cake, right?
