3D model printed Cheesecake Factory dessert

(CNN, KYMA/KECY) - 3D printing machines have been able to make a lot of things like furniture, shoes, human organs and even a rocket.

But can they create and bake a dessert?

Engineers at Columbia University set out to do just that.

A team used a d printing machine and laser technology to whip up a seven-ingredient vegan cheesecake, that's according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal NPJ Science of Food.

Researchers say the experiment was a step toward making it practical to use three-d printing in mechanically-assembled food.

One of the co-authors of the study says if food made by a 3D machine and a laser seem off-putting it shouldn't be because it's much like using an oven or microwave to cook food.

He did add that he is looking into exploring how cooking with lasers might affect the food at a molecular level.

The researchers say 3D machines needed to create food already exist, but they aren't cheap.

And there aren't cookbooks out there about how the technology can be applied.