Do Cakes With Cream Cheese Frosting Need to Be Refrigerated?

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cream cheese frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting: Cathy Lowe

Photo by: Tara Donne ©Tara Donne

Tara Donne, Tara Donne

This question tends to pop up at least once during our weekly "Ask the Editor" Facebook chats: Do cakes with cream cheese frosting need to be refrigerated? With the holidays right around the corner, it's a great time to explore and answer this question. From Paula's Pumpkin Bars to Giada's Spiced Apple-Walnut Cake With Cream Cheese Icing to the classic Red Velvet Cake, it's hard to escape cream cheese frosting's creamy goodness.

So does it need refrigeration?

Food Network Kitchens: Yes, you should always refrigerate any cake or cupcake that has cream cheese frosting. But that doesn't mean you need to serve a cold, hard cake. Take it out of the refrigerator an hour or two before you'd like to serve it so the frosting has time to come to room temperature and the cake layers lose their chill.

Get Food Network's best cream cheese frosting recipe.

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