Do you ever have a cake turn out completely different from your plan yet still work?
Let me explain...
My daughter wanted a puppy cake for her birthday. No problem--I'd make a sculpted dog cake in early 2005 and I was confident that I could do it again. However, I decided to make it a little more challenging and put the puppy on a pillow. I'd never tried making a pillow cake before, but after looking at pictures and ideas here on CC, I thought I'd give it a try.
Then I baked the cakes...
I wanted to make a long rectangular pillow. I baked two 12-inch square 2-inch-high layers, intending to set them side by side and carve them into a thin pillow. Both layers sank horribly in the middle in spite of my use of a flower nail in one and a heating core in the other. I'm pretty sure the combination of a very moist, fatty cake recipe and high altitude was the culprit. I didn't have time to rebake, so I thought about building up the centers with fondant. I decided that would be time-consuming and yucky.
Then, it dawned on me...with a little carving, the indentations in the cakes could look like the indentation in a little dog bed.
I planned to put the MMF on and smooth it along the sides, then put braid along the bottom edge. I coated the cakes with buttercream and started rolling my MMF. It was very stretchy and I knew I was going to have problems getting it on the cake.
I said to my husband, "I think it would be best to go for a draped blanket effect on the cake."
So, that's what I did. Voila--one dog on a blanket-covered dog bed!
The great thing is, no one but my husband and I ever knew that the cake wasn't supposed to look that way! 
"Compensating is the #1 rule in cake decorating" Or so my instructor told us. She said all mistakes can be "compensated" so in fact you have no mistakes. Whenever we had a flower flop or something go awry she'd have us all put our heads together (there were a whopping three of us LOL) and we'd compensate.
You have done an ingenious job of this very technique. Congrats your cake is Awesome!! 
"Compensating is the #1 rule in cake decorating" Or so my instructor told us. She said all mistakes can be "compensated" so in fact you have no mistakes. Whenever we had a flower flop or something go awry she'd have us all put our heads together (there were a whopping three of us LOL) and we'd compensate.
You have done an ingenious job of this very technique. Congrats your cake is Awesome!!
Or, in other words, "Fake it 'til you make it!" 
Here in Utah at about 4500 ft above sea level, you're lucky if your cakes don't sink in the middle! Straight cake mixes usually work just fine, but if I doctor them, or make my cakes from scratch, sinking happens often. It can be prevented by baking with a flower nail in the center, but not always.
High altitude suggestions say to add less fat and sugar, but what fun is that?
My cakes almost always evolve from the original plan to something entirely different.
Sometimes it's to cover mistakes but lots of times I just change my mind part of the way through. It's always interesting what they will look like in the end, especially to me.
Your cake turned out adorable. I LOVE that puppy!
) and she would LOVE this cake. How did you make the dog. You said you sculpted it, what size cake did you start with? TIA! 
That cake is truly adorable. Again...we are our worst critics. Great save! It is such a sweet looking cake. I bet your daughter was tickled pink!!!! What a cool mom to make such a special cake!
Your cake is so adorable. Very very cute!
I have to confess that this happens to ma most of the time 
. i start with something and end up with something else.
I admire people who make scetches to make their cakes and actually will make a cake that looks like on the scetch. for me it would be impossible.
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