does this need to be refridgerated?

i was planning on using this http://caloriecount.about.com/low-sugar-choco late-frosting-recipe-r91973 recipe on a b-day cake and realized the ingredients sound like something that needs to be refridgerated. traditionally you dont really need to put a bday cake in the fridge though so im wondering do i have to keep it in the fridge?

I agree that it should be refrigerated.  And I'd ice the cake at the last minute, because this mixture looks very wet.  The fat in icing is what seals the moisture in the cake and it repels other moisture.  This has no fat, so all that milk and such will just soak into the cake.

What I would do is make the frosting and refrigerate it, then spread it just before serving.  Actually, I wouldn't make this at all because I just don't like the sound of it - my opinion only, it's probably yummy.

It will probably melt right off if you don't refrigerate. I would recommend making it prior and keeping it seperate. And as clairelaine recommends, ice at the last minute.

Or if it's not going to be a decorated cake (except for icing) you could always serve it on the side, which is what I do with any cool whip based frostings.

I've mixed pudding and cool whip before, and it makes a really thick creamy frosting, I think it will work great! The milk will just keep it from getting too thick.

But yes, keep it in the fridge. Cool whip can be out for a short amount of time, but not very long. However, I don't think it will just melt away or anything, from my experience of eating cool whip and pudding. But I didn't use it as frosting, I just ate it like really thick pudding, so I'm not exactly sure.

This is similar to a recipe my family has used for icing cakes for years, except we use the powder form of Cool Whip called Dream Whip I think? When you beat the heck out of the pudding powder, Dream Whip powder, and milk, it makes a lovely fluffy spreadable icing that definately has to be refridgerated.

I've had cakes in the fridge up to a week with this icing on it...keep it well-covered or it will develop a crust. Other than that, it does not make the cake soggy, though it does keep it moist. This combo is much better than traditional cake and frosting, IMO, as that tends to dry out pretty fast. I find regular icing way too sweet since we've used this since I was a kid.

I've made jello ("poke") cakes & frosted them with cool whip frequently but I've never added milk or pudding to them.  I'd opt for either the chocolate Cool Whip OR adding Hershey's Sugar-Free Chocolate syrup straight to the Cool Whip.  Yes!  To the frig for storage, this way I've also found that leftovers freeze great!