I'm very new to cake decorating and I've heard several ppl say they "tweak" recipies when they know that they will be carving a cake. I've been told that the more "dense" a cake is, the better it carves. How to I get the cake mix to be more dense?

add a small box of pudding mix (find a complimentary flavor......choc. cake= choc. pudding, carrot cake=vanilla pudding, white cake=white choc./cheesecake pudding, etc.) and reduce the oil from 1/3 cup to just a couple Tbsp.

Adding JUST the pudding will make it more dense, reducing the oil will make it even MORE dense.

If you have a lot of details to carve, it helps to sift the cake mix first (gives it a finer crumb that's tighter together))

Hope that helps!

Great advice, I will have to remember this for my next carved cake!!