Actual Mars Bar

Some of you may have come across the wonderful resource that is NASA 3D Resources. For those of you unfamiliar you can find stl files of all the Apollo landing sights, Mars, and much more.

https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models

Once I had found the Valles Marineris files I imported them into Fusion 360 to make some minor tweets to the landscape. I wanted a chocolate bar I could break pieces off easily to share. After Adding some break lines it was off to my trusty 3D printer.

My first thought was to print it laying on its back and thats what I did for the first version but on further testing I got the best resolution by printing the bar on its side. It's important to use food grade silicone when making a mold for food. My first attempt was to make the mold from the 3d printed master using the vacu former at the Makerspace I am part of. I switched to silicone molds when I had problems later in the process pouring the molds.

I remembered one of my favorite YouTubers, French Guy Cooking, had made a video on tempering chocolate. That's the last and most delicious step in this process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-EKcYqKEec