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This Is The Best 3D Food Printer We've Seen Yet — And It Makes Stunning Desserts
CES chefjet 2014
CES chefjet 2014

3D Systems/Twitter

A 3D Systems ChefJet printer displayed at CES 2014.

There are a number of 3D food printers on the market , promising to print everything from pasta to Nutella. But most simply create shapes from pre-prepared ingredients.

One company, however, has gone a different direction, designing 3D printer that turns sugar into gorgeous geometric confections in your own kitchen.

“They work a lot like making frosting,” Liz von Hasseln, co-inventor of 3D Systems' ChefJet, told Business Insider. “If you’ve ever made frosting and left the bowl overnight in the sink, you’ll know that it gets quite hard and that’s essentially what happens inside the ChefJet Printer.”

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations
3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations

Courtesy of 3D Systems

The geometric designs created with a ChefJet printer.

The project started when von Hasseln and her husband Kyle, who were graduate students at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, forgot that they were supposed to bake a birthday cake for a friend. Their tiny apartment didn’t have an oven, but they did have the 3D Systems printer they were using for their thesis project.

After tweaking the existing technology to print layers of sugar, they printed their friend’s name as a cake topper and a business was born. The von Hasselns quickly realized the potential of their invention and established Sugar Lab, designing and printing 3D candies in flavors like mint, sour cherry, and vanilla.

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations
3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations

Courtesy of 3D Systems

The printer can create 3D candies in a variety of flavors such as mint, sour cherry, and vanilla.

Sugar Lab was purchased by 3D Systems last year, and now the von Hasselns are the company's Creative Directors of Food Products. Later this year, they will unveil their sleek ChefJet, which prints in black and white, and slightly larger ChefJet Pro, which can print in color, with prices ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.

The machines are roughly twice the size of a microwave and look like something one would see on a futuristic cooking show hosted by Spock.

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations
3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations

Courtesy of 3D Systems

The ChefJet printers can create sugar structures in cocktail glasses for mixologists.

And the possibilities with sugar have gone far beyond the candies Sugar Lab originally printed. “We’ve done everything from drink sweeteners to complicated toppers for elaborate wedding cakes," von Hasseln said. " We even did a cake stand for a wedding cake. When you 3D print the frosting, it becomes a structural component of the dessert other than just an embellishment.”

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations
3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations

Courtesy of 3D Systems

The von Hasselns created a cake stand using their technology.

The end results are gorgeous, geometric creations — especially with the ChefJet Pro, which can make such exact color designs that the end product resemble expensive china.