In the future, maybe we’ll all be pressing buttons on countertop machines that will squeeze various food pastes into the creative shapes of our choice. The 3D printing revolution isn’t limited to fashion, pretty objects, guns or even architecture – it’s edible, too. A combination of scans, special digital files and machines that extrude materials into complex forms might just make food more of an art form than ever before, if these 14 examples are a preview of what’s to come.

Infinity Bacon

In a possibly Freudian typo, Shapeways describes this Bacon Mobius Strip as “not delicious but also vegan and kosher-friendly.” You can order one of your very own to keep forever as a bizarre conversation piece on the mantel, or recurring breakfast gag.

3D Printed Sculptural Sugar

Amazingly intricate sculptures of sugar are 3D printed by The Sugar Lab, a husband-and-wife team of architectural designers. “With our background in architecture and our penchant for complex geometry, we’re bringing 3D printing technology to the genre of mega-cool cakes. 3D printing represents a paradigm shift for confections, transforming sugar into a dimensional, structural medium.”

Pasta, Cereal and Burgers by Freedom of Creation

How will 3D printing technology be applied to the home of the future? Designer Janne Kytannen of Freedom of Creation envisions our own little countertop printing machines capable of producing pasta, cereal, burgers and more. Kytannen believes that as the ability to design our own food becomes more accessible, the items we choose to eat will become far more creative and complex.

Eat Your Own Chocolate Face

A 3D printing workshop in Tokyo produced miniature chocolate versions of the creators’ faces. Each person went into a small room to get a full body scan, and a 3D printed mold was made of their heads. Now, they can make chocolates and other confections in the shape of their own faces again and again. Tokyo’s FabCafe sells the molds for $65 each.

Escher Cookies Made with 3D Printed Rollers

A slab of ordinary cookie dough was made into Escher-inspired cookies using a 3D-printed roller. George W. Hart converts patterns into 3D-printed rollers using a MakerBot; you can download the software and files to make your own at his website.

High-Resolution 3D Printed Chocolates

Deemed the world’s highest-resolution 3D-printed chocolates, these sugary confections from Moving Brands started out as a fun project and turned into a learning process about the intricacies of 3D printing with various materials. “We had to think about the physical properties of molten plastic and the structural integrity of layers… We had to become conversant with how the machine was put together and even how it sounded and smelled,” explained the project technical lead, Daniel Soltis.

Shoe Burger

A shoe isn’t typically the most delicious-looking object, but Tristan Bethe managed to make one look pretty good in both burger bun and chocolate form. Tristan 3D-scanned his own shoe, made a food-safe silicone mold and poured in the mix for both items.

Ramen Noodles

Cornell University’s Fab@Home program has provided designers with 3D printers equipped with syringes that squeeze out pastes of various kinds, including pasta dough. Dave Arnold of Cooking Issues used his to make noodles in cool shapes. “I find that whole idea, which removes ourselves even further from the way our food is made, horrifying. Dinner from a series of homogeneous pastes?” says Arnold; but ultimately, the noodles he created were so delicious he could barely capture them on camera before they disappeared.

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Futuristic Food 3d Printed

Would you eat purple lettuce? How about green bacon or multi-colored pasta? Photographer Henry Hargreaves has put some of our favorite foods into an entirely new context by giving them a technicolor makeover. But does it make you hungry for rainbow-colored meals or just all kinds of queasy?

Hargreaves’ interpretations of common foods call to mind a joyous celebration of diversity…but instead of rainbow flags and pride parades, his celebration involves meal time.

One has to wonder if it was the photographer’s intent to invoke those visual associations of diversity or if his Foods of the Rainbow series is all about fun.

We eat rainbow-colored food frequently, but it is usually candy, breakfast cereal or other artificially-flavored, nutritionally-devoid fare. In Hargreaves’ hands, these everyday foods seem to take on an entirely new level of appeal (or unappeal, as it may be).

Although most of us would have no problem scoffing rainbow-colored ice cream, not many people would go anywhere near the unusual bacon cheeseburger above.

Bento is the Japanese equivalent to the American bagged lunch, but it’s also an art form in itself, and is strongly integrated into Japanese culture. Bento is a lunch turned into a scene or portrait, all within the confines of a small box, and created out of edible materials.

(Images via womansday, flavoreddelights, digeratilife)

Oekakiben is a style of bento called picture bento, that involves creating a scene or depicting animals out of the meal. Above, we see three little pigs, a frog, and an incredibly detailed depiction of Canadian geese.

(Images via japanpowered, sparklemag, fudology, walyou, mariomayhem)

Kyaraben bento typically refers to bento that depicts characters from popular cartoons, films, or video games. The images above are all from video games, including a Playstation controller, a portrait of Mario, the Big Daddy character from the Bioshock series, Pac Man ghosts, and even Pac Man himself! The collection is rounded out with Yoshi and Kirby.

(Images via geekartgallery, instructables, geekadelphia, thatsnerdalicious)

Star Wars has fans across the globe, and thankfully some fans spent the time to create these beautiful depictions of scenes and characters from the films. A Jawa with Tattooine’s twin suns framed in the background, is followed by a TIE fighter and an Imperial Stormtrooper (with the Death Star over his shoulder). A surprisingly accurate noodle Chewbacca  gives the Rebellion an appearance.

(Images via animatrixnetwork, femtalks, cutestfood)

These characters come from children’s books and movies. It’s amazing how much one can accomplish with a bit of rice and carefully placed edible odds and ends. A  giant Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki’s film My Neighbor Totoro and Pooh bear from the best selling children’s book series (and television, and film) are alongside the monstrous characters found in Where the Wild Things Are.

(Images via myspace, oneinchpunch, lostateminor, neatorama)

A lot of bento is made for children’s lunches at school, so their is a natural trend towards anime and cartoon characters. This series depicts a Pokemon character, the world-famous Homer Simpson, Astro Boy, and Stitch, from the popular kids’ movie, Lilo and Stitch.

(Images via japanpowered, sake-bento, japanpowered, toxel, sodelicio)

There are bento competitions where people attempt to create the most aesthetically pleasing (or creative) bento boxes. These amazingly detailed bento would likely win any prize. While these particular bento share a high skill level, they vary wildly in their subject matter: a  famous Japanese painting is reproduced in stunning detail, a panda is depicted curled up in the box, and a woman spends  her day at a spa. A fully realized cat lies on its back, ready to play, while the much less cute portraits of a man and a zombie fill their own boxes.

Imagine reading a recipe, mixing up your ingredients, placing the recipe page in a pan with some tomato sauce and cheese, baking it and then consuming it with relish. It’s not a likely scenario unless you have pica, a disorder that causes people to eat non-food substances like paper – or you’ve gotten your hands onto ‘The Real Cookbook’ by Korefe.

Reminiscent of British artist Anna Garforth’s edible typography, which consists of cookies carefully cut into typographic works of art, the cookbook is made of sheets of fresh pasta printed with recipes in German. Each sheet is designed like a poster, both informative and beautiful to look at.

Once the recipe is put together, the sheet of pasta is placed on top, creating a classic lasagna.

The Real Cookbook was designed as a special project for a large publishing house, and is not available for sale, but if you’re crafty you could possibly DIY your own version with a large stamp and just-slightly-defrosted frozen sheets of pasta.

When I walk down the grocery aisle looking for a snack, my gaze typically settles on a bag of sour cream and onion, or a ludicrously large pack of barbecue chips… but this isn’t always the case. There are some truly wacky potato chip flavors lurking in grocery stores across the nation, and the world. Some of the biggest brands have the craziest flavors, from shrimp and seaweed to cheeseburgers and kiwis. Here are some chips that would be… interesting… to taste:

Oddball Flavors

(Images via chungkingmansions, lapetiteamericaine, inventorspot, taquitos, skyblue-pink, 33foramoment)

Here’s a ragtag group of the oddest chip flavors I’ve seen. We have the condiments: mustard and ketchup, along with odd choices like cinnamon, seaweed, and lime. I have to admit, ketchup sounds vaguely appealing, but I can’t see myself chowing down on handfuls of seaweed flavored Pringles.

Seafood Flavors

(Images via quazen, johnnycupcakes, ramendays, fritolay, chinatowneats, ihatemymessageboard)

Speaking of the ocean, there’s a whole variety of shrimp and octopus flavored delights. Unless you’re looking to serve some cheap food at an under the sea themed party, I’m not quite sure these would be at the top of your shopping list. I cringe to think what they use to flavor these chips.

Meat and Potatoes

(Images via pearlofcivilization, inventorspot, taquitos, guidespot, japanesekat, anh-minh)

This is America, and Americans like meat! Apparently this is an international love, considering how many oddball meat flavored chip combinations I’ve seen in foreign countries. You can class it up with some steak flavored chips, or have a nice honey baked ham handful for lunch. If you’re feeling really crazy, try the lamb and mint, which disturbs me more than it should.

Meals in a Bag

(Images via accidentalhedonist, natesplate, whytraveltofrance, shine)

Do you yearn for a future in which we can consume an entire delicious meal in a pill? Well this is the closest we’ve come: you can have an entire pepperoni pizza, or a thick juicy burger. If you’re in the mood for Italian, grab a bag of delicious Bruschetta at only a fraction of the cost of the real thing.

Fruit Servings… Kind of

(Images via shelteriffic, chrissystyles, bloggoggles, easternjourney)

There are now a ton of ways to get your daily fruit servings, juice being the most common. If you’re sick of being healthy, and just want to pretend, give fruit flavored chips a chance. There’s blueberry, mango, lychee, kiwi, and even plums!