Recently, a team of researchers from universities in the USA made a breakthrough in the confectionery field. Specifically, they printed a dessert with seven ingredients using a 3D printer.
What’s so special about this? 3D printing already builds houses and even organs. But researchers hadn’t yet managed to print a full multi-component dessert like a cheesecake or a layered cake.
Exploring the possibilities of 3D printing for food, the team set out to create a dessert made from seven ingredients: crackers, peanut butter, Nutella, banana puree, strawberry jam, cherry paste, and glaze.
The task turned out to be challenging. Time and again, the pastry refused to hold its shape and fell apart. In the end, the scientists managed to achieve a good result. So how did it go?
How the experiment was conducted.
First, the researchers thoroughly studied the structure of each ingredient. Then, they created edible inks from them and loaded the inks into cartridges that were placed in a specialized food printer. The printer was designed specifically for seven components.
After several attempts, the team determined the optimal order of the layers. They also found that a conical shape best preserves the pastry’s form, The Independent reported.
The base of each layer was a paste made from crackers. The softest ingredients—puree and jam—were supported by auxiliary layers of peanut butter and Nutella. Ultimately, the scientists deemed their experiment a success. They said the complex printed pastry tasted unlike anything else.
Professor Kristen Cooper from Pace University said that in the future, 3D printing may help address a pressing issue: the low nutritional value of processed foods. She also said the technology could be useful for personalized nutrition, specifically for creating high-quality, visually appealing pureed foods for patients with swallowing disorders and other eating difficulties. Cooper noted there are many such patients.
The lead author of the study, Jonathan Blüthinger from Columbia University, said that despite initial successes, 3D food printing is still in its infancy. It’s possible that kitchen printers could one day become a common tool for home cooks. But researchers are currently skeptical about that prospect. It is more likely that this technology will be in demand for large-scale food production.
