Customer wants me to use her grandma's recipe...

I would not use that icing on a tiered cake.  It will be too soft for decorating and would make for a less stable cake, in my opinion.  It should do fine for plain cupcakes.  I use a cream cheese buttercream for tiered cakes that gives you some of the cream cheese taste but is  more stable & less temperature sensitive.  I just make a batch of really stiff buttercream and then beat in 8 oz of cream cheese (for a recipe using 2 lbs powdered sugar).

here's my answer --

after i've explained that if ten bakers used the exact same recipe you could almost guarantee ten different results for whatever recipe the client wants me to use

i say, "sorry i don't do legends."

^^^cliff notes version^^^

Making the cupcakes with the cream cheese icing is a very good idea!!! Many people who marry get the cupcakes made!!!

If this were my client, I would do it.

I don't know if her grandmother is in this world or the next, but either way, she wants that sentimentality in her wedding cake, which is really touching.  

As for the icing, I agree with Irene that the icing would do beautifully on cupcakes but personally, I would explain to the client that it is too soft to be used for the wedding cake.  You could fill the carrot cake layers with Granny's icing but the exterior would need to be a crusting cream cheese icing. 

Don't shoot your bride's dream down.  She may be giving you an absolutely amazing carrot cake recipe!  Just be sure to test-bake cupcakes and a cake with the recipe before committing to it.

Cream cheese can be doctored to withstand simple piping, without changing the taste most of us have come to know and love.  If it were me, I'd select one of the doctored recipes, make a small layer cake to share with the bride, and say nothing about the recipe change until after taste-testing, if at all.  IF she likes it, go for it.  The changes are minor, nothing that alters too much the basic recipe.  It would be very time consuming, but you could also use her recipe as it is to show her how it looks by comparison (maybe a half & half to save you time and dollars on cake).  I'm guessing she'll appreciate the fact the taste is not at all lost, and opt to make your life easier so her cake can be a huge success on her big day.

1) I'm in agreement that you should try the recipe and see how it works out--how will you ever learn new skills without trial and error?

2) The icing recipe will have about the same consistency as IMBC or SMBC--keep it refrigerated like you would for those frostings--it might just work.

3) Yes make grandma a part of this cake somehow. My sister-in-laws grandma was an awesome baker. When my nephew got married grandma made the cake, and I decorated it--we live about 200 miles apart, but we made it work.  I even went to her house to learn how she made it, although I confess I could never master her wonderful recipe. When my niece got married this past summer, she requested grandma's cake (grandma has pass on) and I did my best to keep grandma alive.
 

I think your original idea is the right way to go.  I would make the cupcakes from granny's recipe (her frosting recipe will pipe just fine)  and make the tiered cake chocolate, or vice versa.  Or if she insists that both flavors be used in the cake, I totally agree with Cakepro on this one - I would make the cake and FILL it with granny's recipe.  The exterior of the cake would all be iced with my standard crusting buttercream so that both of the tiers look the same.  Just make sure the bride agrees to that. 

i charge by the hour for recipe testing

Grandma's recipe would be fine for a family cake but definitely not for a wedding cake.   Try this one instead http://www.earlenescakes.com/icings.htm

Yep, I agree with everyone --- that recipe would be fine for cupcakes & as a filling, but not as a cake icing.

I refuse to ice any cake with cream cheese icing it's just too unpredictable.

Here's what I tell my customers when they ask for cream cheese icing  "Cream cheese icing is predictably unpredictable. For that reason I only use it for cupcakes or as a filling, the outside of your cake will be iced in buttercream"     -- never had a problem with people argreeing to this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhbaker 

Yep, I agree with everyone --- that recipe would be fine for cupcakes & as a filling, but not as a cake icing.

 

I refuse to ice any cake with cream cheese icing it's just too unpredictable.

 

Here's what I tell my customers when they ask for cream cheese icing  "Cream cheese icing is predictably unpredictable. For that reason I only use it for cupcakes or as a filling, the outside of your cake will be iced in buttercream"     -- never had a problem with people argreeing to this.

Yep.

Maybe a compromise would be agreeable.  Use the cream cheese frosting between the layers, and  your usual BC  or fondant on the outside.  

here's another coupla angles

just as discussion fodder

why i don't do legends continued

• g'ma mighta added a cap full of brandy to her stuff unbeknownst to an adoring family or some other item that isn't written down

• if it's known that g'ma's treasured recipes are being used then whether they hit the mark or not will be a big deal at the wedding

if they match wow cool if not...

I actually just had a negative experience with this same request. A bride who was also a friend asked me to do a snickerdoodle cupcake recipe with cinnamon cream cheese frosting for her wedding cupcakes. She said she had tested the recipe 3 times and gotten it just perfect.

Day of the wedding I am scraping frosting off of two dozen of the cupcakes and making a new batch of frosting because it was not piping properly with the star tip that she wanted. She tested it for taste, but the consistancy was terrible. So I had to tweek it and play with it to get it just right.

Moral of the story.  1. Never do a new recipe without doing a test batch. 2. Always charge for the test batch.