3D Printed Food

Digital technology entered the culinary limelight with the recent premier opening of the 3DS Culinary Lab in Los Angeles. Guests were treated to a variety of dishes that featured 3D printed elements, such as pumpkin and maple waffles, wasabi eggs, passionfruit sugar flowers and candy-cap mushrooms. Perhaps the most intricate was a sugar sculpture that, when broken, revealed a creamy passionfruit curd…truly a dessert of the future!

The event was centered around the introduction of the world’s first professional 3D printer designed exclusively for food. The ChefJet Pro is a large-format 3D printer that can produce full-color, photographic quality goodies using a variety of confectionary recipes, including sugar, fondant and sweet and sour candy flavors. It has a build volume of 8” by 8” by 8”, runs at a speed of about 2 vertical inches per hour and can create just about anything you can imagine from logo sugar cubes to delicate candy latticework.

The lab will be used to host additional events for collaborators – including chefs, mixologists, artisans, and other partners across the culinary and hospitality industry – to explore the myriad possibilities for 3D printed food.