Scientists at Columbia University have created a fully baked seven-ingredient vegan cheesecake using a 3D-printing machine and laser technology, as per a study published Tuesday in the journal NPJ Science of Food.
“When you bite into it, you kind of feel the flavors hit you in different waves,” Jonathan Blutinger, a mechanical engineer at Columbia University and first author of the new paper, told New Scientist. “And I think that’s a function of the layering inside of the actual structure.”
“It definitely tasted like something I hadn’t tried before,” Blutinger told the Guardian. “I rather enjoyed it, but it’s not a conventional mix. We’re not Michelin chefs.”
Ingredients of the 3D printed cheesecake
The cheesecake was made using “printer-friendly” graham cracker paste, peanut butter, strawberry jam, Nutella, banana puree, cherry drizzle and frosting. The 3D printer then built the slice by squeezing the ingredients through a syringe in thin lines, forming the layered dessert.
The ingredients were reportedly sourced from a local convenience store in New York City, however, the researchers mashed bananas using a fork to create a puree, and they mixed water, butter and graham crackers in a food processor to form the paste.
The researchers had gone through several failed attempts before coming up with the solution to add layers of graham cracker paste throughout the slice.
The wells were created from sturdy, drier ingredients, and the walls were thick on the bottom and thinner on top. The researchers then deposited the wetter ingredients inside the wells, so they were supported.
The final step of the 30-minute process was using a blue laser to brown the top graham cracker layer.
Through this experiment, the Columbia University researchers said via a statement that 3D printing could help with meal planning, making food more sanitary by reducing human handling of it.
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