No, ice cream makers do not freeze the ice cream. They only process it to create soft-serve ice cream. The process of making ice creams is very similar to making soft drinks or sodas: You put water in a pan and heat it until it boils (ice cream is typically made from frozen curds and whey). Then you add sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and flavoring (in this case sweetened fruit juice or purée) and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. The liquid that forms from the curds as the cheesecake comes together after chilling is called “frozen chunks”—and they’re very soft indeed! After an hour or so of cooling, the mixture is churned using a dasher on top of the churning blade with an electric hand mixer at low speed until light foam forms on top—this is called “frozen lumps” and they’re very light indeed!