Making a carvable cake My son and I want to make a cake shaped like a frog.  Our plan is to bake two layers, cut them out into shapes, stack one on top of the other, and then finish carving the cake into the shape of a frog.

In the past, I've found it very difficult to cut and carve cakes into shapes.  The cake crumbles when I try to cut it.

I'm looking for tips on how best to do this.  Either ideas I can use during baking or techniques to use during cutting/carving would be great.

I usually use a mix when I bake a cake, and most of the mixes at the grocery store say "moist" and "pudding in the mix."  Would the cake be firmer if I used a different mix?  Is there something I could look for when selecting a mix that would give me a firmer cake for carving?
Freeze the cake - it carves much, much easier.  Make sure and wrap it tightly before going into the freezer, otherwise it may pick up odd freezer smells easily though.