The world’s most beautiful cappuccinos are in 3D and are made in Japan, with foamy Pokémon and Winnie the Pooh

Milk Art, yes, but in three dimension. That's what Runa Kato must have thought when she decided to specialise in artistic sculptures made of whipped milk, creating scenic cappuccinos that are too beautiful to drink.

Three-dimensional Milk Art

Winnie the Pooh, but also Hamtaro, Bulbasaur and many Japanese anime, as well as animals with sweet expressions: these are just some of the characters portrayed by Runa, who has more than 136,000 followers on Instagram, dazzled by the beauty of her creations. 3D milk art is a trend hailing from Japan, started in 2017 thanks to a particular printer that allows baristas to give a customised shape to the froth, to be further decorated and then defined with food colouring.

Whipped milk creations

Together with Runa, the forerrunner was Kohei Matsuno of Tokyo's Hat Coffee café. The two revolutionised the already spectacular Latte Art (other name for Milk Art), the cappuccino decoration that has always been done in a two-dimensional shape, by using special metal nibs to structure the fictional characters, with which you can interact. After all, who would be able to resist the temptation to sink their teaspoon into Winnie the Pooh's soft tummy? In this case, you can do it without disrupting the shape, since the structure remains sturdy and solid.

More tasty than beautiful? Maybe. There are no stabilisers in the recipe, no cream or other ingredients, just espresso and whipped milk. The taste is therefore pretty much like any other cappuccino, but the top layer that builds up the characters is whipped with a lot of air, which is probably not very pleasant.

Whatever the case, Runa Kato's videos are hypnotising, and although the trend has since spread elsewhere, hers remain the most beautiful cappuccinos ever.