A US husband and wife team has capitalised on society's growing interest in 3D printing, establishing The Sugar Lab, which designs, digitally models and prints sugar sculptures.
According to The Guardian, Kyle and Liz von Hasseln specialise in custom 3D-printed sugar for cakes.
Liz says 3D printing transforms sugar into a structural, sculptural element which can be used to sweeten or to ornament.
"It can also start to define the form of the food instead of the other way around, or even to support it structurally," she said.
"The overlap of technology, food and art is so rich, and the potentials for customization and innovation are limitless … We can definitely visualize a time when there will be a sugar 3D printer in every custom bakery. Brides will choose chocolate or vanilla, buttercream or fondant, and 3D-printed sugar topper shape."
The Guardian reports that academics at Cornell university have predicted that 3D printing, cloud computing and digitised personal data will revolutionise cooking in the years to come.
The von Hasselns aren't the only working experimenting with 3D printing and food. The video below shows a student from Pagora Grenoble, part France's largest engineering institute, who was challenged with the task of turning a 3D printer which usually prints kidney or liver tissue, into a 3D chocolate printer.
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