The First 3D Chocolate Printer Creates Candy at Home

If you're tired of store-bought chocolate, or dream of making intricate, chocolatey designs that will propel you to baking reality show stardom, we've got some good news. Thanks to a new line of 3D printers from Choc Edge, you can now print your own candy at home.

But don't expect to realize your sweetest dreams on the cheap. The company's chocolate printer comes in two models: the Choc Creator (at £2,888, or about $4,500), and the Choc Creator V2 (£3,888, or roughly $6,100). The latter was released just this past September, but it's not immediately clear why it's worth an extra £1,000.

Each model allows you to print chocolate treats on virtually any surface. All you have to do is upload a 3D printing file via USB, and the machine will start drawing out lines of delicious, delicious chocolate.

The machine is capable of creating extremely intricate designs, as evidenced by the fine lace patterns visible in many of the creations Choc Edge shows off on its site. According to the company's specs, both models of Choc Edge printer can print lines as thin as half a millimeter—far finer than any manual piping technique.

While this is the first commercially available 3D chocolate printer, it won't be alone for long. 3DSystems and ChocaByte showed off their own chocolate printers at CES 2014. And CNN reported back in January that 3DSystems is partnering with chocolate giant Hershey's for its device.

Gizmag reports that the ChocaByte will cost just $99, making it almost an impulse buy compared to the used car price tag on the Choc Creator. Still, it's unclear how the machine will compare when it comes to the complexity of the designs that it can print.

With 3D printers aiming to feed soldiers in the field and even build houses, the possibilities (and lower price points) for the nascent technology seem limitless.

Via: Product Hunt