Updated: September 2026 · Original: May 2015
Having chocolate figures made – a car, a component, a mascot in real 3D – works in two ways today: cast from a mould of your own (that is how Schokologo works, from one-offs to small series) or printed with a chocolate 3D printer (single pieces, pâtisserie). What you need, where the limits are and what became of the 3D printer of 2015: read on. To inquire straight away: Custom 3D chocolate from your own chocolate mould.
Having chocolate figures made: how it works today
From your 3D data or a sample we build the model, from that the food-safe casting mould; the figure is cast solid or hollow in milk, dark or white chocolate. The mould stays with us and is reused for reorders. Examples from the range: chocolate car, gear on a bar, special chocolate replica. How the mould is made, step by step: your own chocolate mould.
Four ways to a 3D template
We often receive requests to turn a specific product or object into three-dimensional chocolate. There are four ways to provide the template for production:
- STL file. The STL format became known through 3D printing; it describes the geometry of a three-dimensional model. If you have an STL file of the product, access to a 3D scanner or engineers who can supply it, that is the ideal route. Send us the file with quantity, packaging or budget – you receive a first assessment at short notice.
- Photos. A single photo does not contain enough data for 3D production: the views from above, below, front, back and various angles are missing. A reconstruction needs dozens of shots all round (photogrammetry); free software such as 3DF Zephyr can compute a model from them – a detailed video: 3D STL data from photos.
- Commission a 3D designer. Like graphic designers, 3D designers exist, mostly freelance. Send photos, get a quote – the result is your STL file.
- Send a sample by post. If possible, send us the object – we take a 1:1 impression.
From mould to figure: solid or hollow
With the STL file we are almost there. Fully three-dimensional shapes without a flat side are split in the middle: two models with one flat side each. For a solid figure both halves are cast separately and then “glued” with chocolate. For a hollow figure the mould halves are fixed before casting, filled with chocolate and turned until the chocolate sets on the wall. An example video by the mould maker Brunner Schokoladenformen on casting a chocolate unicorn: casting a hollow figure.
Beware of undercuts
Not every shape can be reproduced that easily. An undercut is any spot that gets in the way when demoulding – a protruding cam, a handle, a recess under an edge. The chocolate would only come out of the mould in pieces. Three ways out: split the figure into parts (a multi-part mould, more effort and higher cost), simplify the model at that spot, or emboss the design as a relief on a flat bar instead of casting it all round.
Chocolate 3D printers: from CocoJet (2015) to today
In early 2015 the 3D food printer “CocoJet” was presented at CES in Las Vegas, developed by 3D Systems and Hershey: it printed complex structures from melted milk, dark or white chocolate – even your own face after a 3D scan. A prototype about twice the size of a microwave, with the promise of reaching the market soon.
Ten years on, chocolate printers for pâtisseries and single pieces are indeed available – the German magazine 3D-grenzenlos keeps an overview of suppliers. Chocolatiers such as Benedikt Daschner print one-off pieces with them:
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Schokologo experiments with 3D printing too – for single pieces and prototypes. For promotional items in quantity, casting from a mould remains the method: faster per piece, made of tempered Callebaut couverture with gloss and snap, and the mould costs only once.
A work of art in chocolate? Amaury Guichon
The talented pâtissier Amaury Guichon brings any figure in any size to life with patience and endless attention to detail (also on Facebook). For promotional items the route to the artist is rarely realistic because of budget, lead time and quantity – as inspiration it is unbeatable:
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3D chocolate at a glance
- Template: 3D file in STL format; alternatively a sample, sketch or photo with dimensions
- Execution: solid or hollow figure; complex designs cast in several parts and assembled
- Varieties: milk, dark, white; colour applications possible
- Size: reliefs up to about 20 × 20 cm; sculptures and hollow figures after a feasibility check, size on request
- Quantity: one-off to small series; complex figures economical from 10–20 pieces
- Time: 3–6 weeks after approval; digital 3D mockup before production
- The mould stays with us – reorders without modelling costs
- Confidentiality: NDA on request
Your figure in 3D: send us an STL file or a photo with dimensions – you receive a first assessment and a 3D mockup. All details, products and questions: custom 3D chocolate · your anniversary number as a sculpture: corporate anniversary gifts · inquire now.
