Apparently yesterday was National Pancake Day, and I missed it. I’m not pleased about this – particularly since it was the tenth anniversary, it seems. IHOP started the holiday in 2006 as a way to raise money for charity, but I’ve actually never heard of it until now. I could have been getting a free stack of pancakes every year and I didn’t know it. It doesn’t help that I’ve always been terrible at making pancakes myself. I try to flip them too early, and they fall apart, or I wait too long and they burn, or I pour the batter too thickly so that they burn on the edges and don’t cook properly in the middle – it’s pathetic, really.

Maybe I should invest in a PancakeBot. The 3D pancake printer been evolving since 2010, when civil engineer Miguel Valenzuela, inspired by a pancake stamping device he read about in Make: magazine, decided to make his own pancake machine for his two daughters. He cobbled together a device made from Legos, named it PancakeBot, and displayed it at the World Maker Faire in New York. The machine was met with a great deal of enthusiasm, unsurprisingly, as there seem to be very few people in the world who don’t like pancakes. Valenzuela then built a more advanced, non-Lego version of the pancake machine and signed an agreement with product innovation company StoreBoundto bring PancakeBot to market.

After a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $460,584 (after an original goal of $50,000), PancakeBot is officially for sale – for the very reasonable price of $299.99. Right now only pre-orders are being taken, but shipping should start this month. It was recently exhibited at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, where it was, of course, a hit.

Many people I know have memories of their parents trying to make pancakes in special shapes, to varying degrees of success. About the most impressive design I’ve seen is a Mickey Mouse head with disturbingly lopsided ears, but the PancakeBot allows all parents and other would-be pancake artists to create some beautiful, complex designs, complete with shading. Simply create your design on your computer, load it onto an SD card, and then plug it into the PancakeBot, which will then extrude your pre-mixed batter onto the printer’s “build plate,” or griddle, in the form of a delicious work of art.

Using PancakeBot’s free Pancake Painter software, compatible with Mac and Windows, designs can be drawn by hand or imported from photos – meaning that yes, you can print and eat your own face. The PancakeBot website also offers several uploadable designs such as animals, cartoon characters, and every printer manufacturer’s favorite design, the Eiffel Tower. You can even print your favorite – or least favorite – politician, presumably so you can vent some of your political frustration with a fork.

PancakeBot can be ordered either in black or bright cherry red. It’s simple to assemble and disassemble, with a removable, non-stick griddle and a BPA-free batter dispenser bottle. The printing surface is a pretty good size, at 17.5″ x 8.25″. PancakeBot’s website is full of helpful tutorials about how to assemble and use the printer, as well as several troubleshooting guides. The process looks to be very streamlined so that it should be quick and easy to get your pancakes from build plate to breakfast plate – although, to my disappointment, you still have to do the pancake flipping by hand. Is this a machine that you need? 

—The article is from 3D PRINT.COM

I’ve heard a lot about 3D printed food and I think it’s fascinating, but I’ve never gotten a chance to try it. So far, it’s been mostly relegated to specialty events and high-end restaurants, and it hasn’t quite reached the masses yet. Martin Furze would like to change that. The Suffolk, England-based caterer has been working in the food industry for nearly his entire working life, and his new business venture is a novel one. Furze intends to create the first café fully dedicated to 3D printed food. SCOFF3D, which is currently raising capital through a Kickstarter campaign, will, if successfully funded, bring together 3D printing, smart technology, and, of course, food.

“The café is to be a place where customers are able to site at a smart table and select something to enjoy from there,” Furze told 3DPrint.com. “This will include traditional refreshments but its focus will be selecting the desired edible treat from a constantly updated gallery of prints. These will start with sugar, marzipan and chocolate sculptures that will come out with a tea, coffee or soft drink but to make the printing experience more personal I plan to have both software and printers accessible to customers so they can come in and print their own treats…As the printers develop so will the café, pastries and sponges will take a place along with other advancements in the industry.”

SCOFF3D won’t be just a café, though. Furze intends to actually create three businesses in one. Beyond the café, he plans to start a catering service that will 3D print food for weddings, birthdays and other events. His ideas include bespoke sculptures created with 3D scanners, customizable chocolate plate settings, and specialty holiday prints. Finally, he wants to become a reseller and supplier of 3D food printers, including a rental service.

A business this expansive will need a lot of capital, so Furze is trying to raise £400,000 (nearly $595,000 USD) by February 14 – Valentine’s Day, appropriately enough. The money will be used for everything from food printers and smart tables to initial wages for staff. Rewards start at as little as £2, which will put your name on the website’s “wall of thanks,” and go all the way up to a personal preview tour of the business for those who contribute £5,000 or more. In between, there are T-shirts, keychains, water bottles, hoodies and more. Donate £1,000 and you’ll get to be one of the first to benefit from SCOFF3D’s services, with a 3D printed edible treat delivered right to your door.

“From this I have had multiple spin-off ideas that I won’t disclose at this point but potentially will be huge and help spread the branding further still,” Furze told us. “With each aspect of the business is an opportunity to start a chain which is extremely exciting!”

Personally, I hope this one succeeds. I think 3D printed food is incredibly cool, and the opportunity to go to a café and print my own would definitely be something I would take advantage of. I also find the idea of renting a food printer for a party very appealing.

—The article is by Clare Scott from 3D PRINT.COM