Cream cheese, like all soft cheeses, should be refrigerated. However, it's okay to leave it on the counter for a couple of hours so it softens for recipes like this cream cheese frosting.u003cbr/u003eTip: If you forget to take your cream cheese out ahead of time to soften, unwrap the block of cream cheese and cut it into small chunks, spreading them apart on a plate. The small chunks will warm up and soften much more quickly than a big block of unwrapped cheese.