Shrinkage-induced cracking, commonly observed in nature, produces polygonal crack patterns in environments like drying lake beds, permafrost, and cooling lava flows. These patterns can be reproduced in the lab by desiccating dense suspensions on rigid substrates, where shrinkage stresses lead to cracking. Due to its technological potential, we explore the controlled generation of crack patterns by introducing anisotropic mechanical properties into dense pastes before desiccation, using a discrete element model to study the evolution of these patterns as materials shrink. Our simulations reveal how anisotropy influences crack structure and fragment shapes, highlighting also those features that remain robust regardless of the strength of anisotropy. Additionally, we explain how inherent material disorder causes cracking of the layer to occur in bursts following scale free statistics with non-universal exponents.