This week’s selection is the tasty Bubble Cake mold by Ukrainian food artist Dinara Kasko.
Typically we haven’t selected a food item for our Design of the Week, but this one deserves a selection for ingenuity.
Kasko, based in Kharkov, near the Russian border, is a food artist that creates wonderful designs. There are many food artists creating incredible cakes, as I’m certain you’ve seen many such images posted on social media. However, not very many of them use 3D printing in the way Kasko does.
Her approach is to start with a digital 3D model of a cake. She makes use of 3DS Max and Rhino3D to develop the basic 3D model. Then this model is 3D printed on a typical plastic 3D printer, such as the Ultimaker she’s currently using.
The plastic print becomes a positive mold for the actual baking mold. After some smoothing, liquid silicone is poured over the print and left to harden.
The silicone is peeled off the print, which can then be discarded. The silicone mold can then be used for baking.
Typical cake ingredients are prepared and poured into the silicone mold, which is positioned upside down. Baking leaves a cake with a flat bottom, but the top is textured according to the 3D model shape.
The Bubble Cake is peeled out of the mold, which can then be reused for a second cake, or more.
Decoration follows the normal baking process at this point, and while I may not be an expert at such matters, Kasko certainly is. The shiny Bubble Cake looks spectacular. It doesn’t even look like a cake!
Inside the cake is again, whatever you wish to bake. Here Kasko has inserted layers of fruit in a rigid pattern to contrast with the bubbly exterior.
It’s my understanding that Kasko has developed a number of 3D printed molds for a variety of cakes, some of which can be purchased at her online shop for shipment worldwide.
But then, you could also give this approach a try yourself, if you’ve got the equipment, silicone and some 3D creativity.
Via Dinara Kasko
