Liquid candy from a secret recipe extrudes, layer after layer, as the 3-D printer builds gummy portraits, a zoo's worth of animals or shot glasses in dozens of flavors. It's like being in a candy factory, says Dylan Lauren, founder of Dylan's Candy Bar.
The shapes are among hundreds you can choose at Dylan's in Chicago as the candy lover's paradise debuts what's billed as the world's first 3-D gummy printer, the Katjes Magic Candy Factory, on Wednesday.
The printing for one piece takes 5-10 minutes. And the treats are made with vegan, dairy and allergen-free, kosher and halal ingredients in a patented secret recipe. Finish your personal gummy with a dusting of glitter, sour or fizzy powder.
The cost is $20. And you also get a link to a time lapse video of your 3-D gummy printing. The store is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
I sat down with Lauren, in town for the launch, to chat while custom 3-D gummies printed.
Q: What are the fan favorite shapes so far?
A: The dinosaur is really popular, and the car. You can put a Lego driver inside. And the frog which is really 3-D, it's like a little tree frog in the middle of a jump. We've also done quite a few cool custom ones for Dylan, and out of those, I think the one that's most popular so far is the 3-D dolphin.
Q: What about flavors?
A: The most popular flavors so far are Gorgeous Green Apple and Tasty Tropical Blue and Marvelous Mango.
Q: I noticed the texture is a little like French jelly candy?
A: You can experience what a candy factory is like, which most customers can't. Which is getting a gummy hot off the press. It's totally fresh right from the start, with softer gummys. If you like harder gummys, you can always refrigerate it.
Q: What about the ingredients?
A: We created a vegan recipe for the Magic Candy Factory for two reasons: One, we believe in vegetarian-based recipes because they're accessible to anyone, no matter what your religion or your dietary requirement. But also a 3-D printer needs to be able to build layers to create shapes and meaningful designs, and our regular gelatin-based recipes take between three to five days to dry. So if we put a regular recipe of gelatin in the machine it would actually print a puddle of nothing.
Q: What if we can't make it into a store?
A: It's going to be online available nationwide, so if you're not able to get into the city, you're going to be able to access it fully online from June 6 at dylanscandybar.com.
Dylan's Candy Bar, 445 N. Michigan Ave., 312-702-2247, www.dylanscandybar.com
lchu@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @louisachu
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