hello group!  this is my first posting to this forum.  

i have an order for a red velvet bûche de noel.  they requested cream cheese as the filling and topping however they also requested it not be very sweet.   

i haven't experimented very much with cream cheese frostings.  i did a trial run and, though the cake turned out perfect, the cream cheese frosting was overbearingly sweet. 

do you guys think i should do a regular buttercream frosting for the topping to cut down the sweetness or can someone suggest a less sweet cream cheese frosting recipe.  

thanks in advance!!!

Could you just skip the outer frosting altogether and pour ganache on the top? Just keep the cream cheese filling/frosting inside the cake. That way there isn't any extra layers on the outside. I'm assuming you will have added a final layer of the ganache on top as the bark of the yule log. 

a white chocolate ganache?  

on my test i just used the cream cheese frosting as the filling and the frosting.  

You could do that. It would probably be still pretty sweet. I've just always made them with dark chocolate ganache. :)

i guess, in my mind, i always thought red velvet had to have a white couverture and filling to give it contrast.  if it is comment to have the dark chocolate with red velvet then i'm good to go :)  thanks for your advice!  

do you have a favourite cream cheese recipe that's not overly sweet or are the cream cheese recipes pretty standard?

I think they are all pretty standard. All sweet…good, but sweet.

One of the reasons cream cheese frosting is so sweet is so that it doesn't go bad.  If you drop the sugar level too low,  it would need a lot of refrigeration.

The "boss of buches" says...I'd go with a cream cheese mousse for a filling and then ice it with either white chocolate or chocolate IMBC.  You could do a dark chocolate ganache which definitely wouldn't be sweet, just be aware of how much you're putting on because it can overpower the flavor of red velvet.  I would stay away from a white chocolate ganache if they don't want anything really sweet.  What you use on the outside is going to depend largely on how they want the final log to look (brown v white).  This is the cream cheese mousse recipe I use and it's really good:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Blackberry-Napoleons-with-Cream-Cheese-Mousse-231900

Red velvet is not one of the flavors I offer for a buche but that is my best suggestion.

The mousse sounds delish!!!!!