I am also a newbie but love to work with fondant. I have been experimenting with different sculptured cakes. My next adventure is making a cake purse. After watching a show on TV, I wonder if the cakes should be frozen first for better carving ability then covered in buttercream and then fondant; My worry is that it will cause my cake to sweat and therefore the frosting to become tacky as it thaws. Any ideas/suggestions?

I always thought it was important to chill or freeze a cake for carving. But, I took a class with Bronwen Weber this past weekend and she never freezes her cakes for carving. We worked with a room tempature cake and it made it so easy to carve.