Do you really have to freeze ice cream after you make it in your ice cream maker?

serve ice cream bowls image

Tears and

If I just freeze the bowl, chill the mixture, and do everything else that the instructions of my ice cream maker tell me to do and churn the ice cream, can I just eat it when it's done churning instead of freezing it for eight hours first? Won't it be just like soft serve ice cream?

Answer
Sure you can eat it at that point, what the freezing does is obviously firms it up and lets it "age" where all the flavors can mix and become their fullest. You know how homemade soup always seems more flavorful the next day? Same thing!