Diffractive Chocolate

One of the things I appreciate about HN is that discussions often acknowledges the pioneers. Way back in the early 1990s Eric Begleiter started Dimensional Foods to commercialize edible holographic technology. He gave a memorable demo at Thinking Machines Corp. where, in addition to rainbows from diffraction sheet molded foods, he showed some simple rendered 3D scenes floating in chocolate illuminated by a slide projector. Very impressive at the time when he broke off a chunk and ate it. The short-term idea was to give a rainbow sheen to breakfast cereals, but I think longer term there was talk of using holograms to distinguish and layer information on medicines. Made quite an impression at the time.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20150527050715&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;1997&#x2F;04&#x2F;02&#x2F;garden&#x2F;where-no-candy-has-gone-before-light-as-the-secret-ingredient.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20150527050715&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytim...</a>

I&#x27;ve done this! You can also cut a small square of diffraction grating and put it on top of a hardening chocolate candy (like an enrobed square of ganache) to make decorate a completed chocolate: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;whoisgood.dog&#x2F;img&#x2F;chocolate-diffraction-picture.jpg" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;whoisgood.dog&#x2F;img&#x2F;chocolate-diffraction-picture.jpg</a><p>Also tip: easiest way to temper a pot of chocolate is with an electric hand-mixer. Wait until it&#x27;s 32C, mix for fifteen seconds, bam tempered.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=UsDnkrDvkBo" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=UsDnkrDvkBo</a><p>Ben from Applied Science has a good video going over the same topic.

You can also find the same thing naturally in roast beef when you cut against the grain resulting in even microstructures.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mdpi.com&#x2F;2304-8158&#x2F;2&#x2F;4&#x2F;499" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mdpi.com&#x2F;2304-8158&#x2F;2&#x2F;4&#x2F;499</a>

Similarly they now have diffractive 3d printing &quot;beds&quot; that leave a chromatic layer on the bottom of your 3d prints...<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.bambulab.com&#x2F;collections&#x2F;bambu-build-plates&#x2F;products&#x2F;bambu-3d-effect-sheets-combo-with-plate?skr=yes" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.bambulab.com&#x2F;collections&#x2F;bambu-build-plates&#x2F;pr...</a>

If you can cast a diffraction grating into chocolate, it should also be possible to cast a reflective hologram. Holding a block of chocolate up to light and seeing a 3D image would be pretty cool.

It is obvious that if you correctly add pieces of something like this to a viscous medium (so that the pieces are on the surface of the medium), you will get a viscous material with a visually observable diffraction effect:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bartovation.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;other-lab-supplies&#x2F;diffraction-grating-sheets&#x2F;13500-lines&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bartovation.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;other-lab-supplies&#x2F;diffracti...</a><p>The other thing is unclear:<p>Why gnaw on diffraction sheets?<p>Will this make chocolate taste better? Will this improve your health? It&#x27;s all very exciting and mysterious.

Given the surprisingly small feature size achievable, small enough to get diffraction, I wonder if anyone has tried making a playable CD out of chocolate or sugar.

This is cool. I wonder how you ensure that your mould is made from food-safe materials. Presumably gratings are usually just cut glass, so that should be okay? They are not part of the usual food-safe supply chain, though. I guess to would be tricky to obtain the proper assurances if you wanted to do this commercially.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.is&#x2F;Lphsl" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.is&#x2F;Lphsl</a>

Diffraction gratings are amazing. Is it possible to make one with a 3d printer?

Why haven’t chocolatiers exploited this to make really unique pieces?

what the heck are they talking about in the linked article? each color of light travels at a different speed?<p>&gt; White light can be separated into all seven major colors of the complete spectrum or rainbow by using a diffraction grating. The grating separates light into colors as the light passes through the many fine slits of the grating. Each color travels at a different speed and therefore has a different angle of refraction when it hits the grating.