Credit to: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Candylicious,(8667322985).jpg

My first reaction when I discovered that Candylicious in Dubai Mall now offers the option of 3D printing your own candy was pure, unadulterated excitement. What could be better than the false sense of achievement I can derive from such an experience? Sketching a deformed smiley face and watching it materialize before my eyes in slow 3D printing motion? Great job, Yasmin. Look at what you kind-of-but-not-really made. I looked forward to making my creation at Candylicious and patting myself on the back, something I haven’t often been able to do since arriving to NYU Abu Dhabi.

And so, with the support of my fellow Google Student Club members, I set out to experience five grams of personalized, 3D-printed, gummy wonder.

On my way to Dubai, I found out that the 3D printer used at Candylicious, brought in from Germany’s third largest candy company, Katjes, is called Magic Candy Factory. The printer relies on extrusion technology: the extruder’s hot end works through resistive heating, with a direct electric current warming up the heater element, thereby producing the candy. The gelatin paste is then expelled out of a syringe onto the plate below, upon which layers are added. This is similar to the concept other 3D printers are based on. Typically, they work by slowly adding layers of a material on top of one another, in a process called additive manufacturing.

Now, while the concept of 3D printing was not particularly new to me, the fact that I could pick up my own little personalized gummy from a fancy piece of equipment and proceed to consume it was a delightful idea.

Nevertheless, as I stepped into Candylicious, I tried to stayed focused: Don't spend more money than you need to, I told myself. Buying another cute, overpriced Reese’s pillow would be ridiculous, and being ridiculous is something you know you need to work on.

After being guided to a small station surrounded by children much smaller but no less eager than myself, I was told to draw whatever I wanted onto an iPad or choose something from the available designs. I played it safe and just wrote my name, for fear of becoming overwhelmed by all the possible options. I also had a choice of seven colors and 10 flavors. After much internal debate, I decided on a combination of blackberry and mango, just because the pairing was unfamiliar to me.

As I waited, I thought of what a world of mostly 3D printed food would look like; would 3D printers be stationed in the kitchen, directly next to the microwave, sullied and worn by use just like the other appliances? If I felt like having lasagna, would I be able to just click a button specifying my meat to vegetable ratio and watch my meal come to life?

I regrettably did not get to continue my train of thought because approximately 10 minutes later, my 3D-printed snack of a first name was ready. I bit off part of it, halving the name into a “yas.”’ Yas, indeed.