Edible flowers appear on iced doughnuts and spectacular cold, clear jelly doughnuts for summer.
Japan has a knack for attention to detail, and nowhere is that more evident than in the country’s sweets. So far, we’ve seen perfection in delicate cloud cakes, phantom cheesecakes, and tiny little New Year cake morsels, but now it’s time to turn our attention to a collection of doughnuts so pretty people can’t get enough of them.
▼ The doughnuts come from a cute little store in Tokyo’s Koenji called “gmgm” (pronounced “gumu gumu”)
Outside the store is a sign that hints at the beautiful sweets inside. They describe themselves as a “floral baked doughnut specialty store” and edible flowers are the drawcard here, bringing the beauty of nature to some gorgeous toppings.
We visited the store to check out their range of floral doughnuts, which aren’t just beautiful but relatively healthy too, as they don’t contain white sugar or preservatives. We wanted to take them all home with us, but ended up purchasing four, and each one was boxed individually to keep them looking pristine by the time we got home.
When we took the doughnuts out of their boxes, they looked just as good as they did in the store. At this point, we wished we had dainty little pastel floral dishes to really accentuate the beauty of each one, perhaps with a matching teacup and saucer on the side for Instagrammable presentation. But we weren’t here for the ‘Gram, we were here for the eating, so we recapped the flavours we purchased before moving on to the taste test.
▼ Cream cheese strawberry × safflower
▼ Banana nuts x viola
▼ Earl Grey x Rose
▼ Caramel Peach x Chamomile
As we took a bite out of each one we were surprised to find the flowers added more than pure beauty to the toppings, they added noticeable flavour accents to the icing too. Though we expected the icing to overpower the floral notes, they were in perfect harmony instead, playing off each other with a balance that made each doughnut feel light and delicate.
Heating them in the microwave for ten seconds enhanced the fluffy, slightly chewy texture of the sweets and also made each one seem even more fruity and fragrant, thanks to the addition of fruit pieces in the mix.
There are a wide variety of doughnuts to choose from, including taste sensations like “Anchovy tomato x basil” and “Fresh ham figs x rosemary“. And during summer, there’s also a range of “cold flower doughnuts” served only for eat-in customers.
Image: PR Times
▼ These cold sweets are shaped like doughnuts but made with clear jelly and cream.
Image: PR Times
All of gmgm’s doughnuts cost 455 yen (US$4.31) plus tax, although they can be purchased online as well, for 463 yen, which is particularly handy for those living outside of the area.
If you do visit the store, you’ll need to note that it’s only open on Friday to Sunday and on public holidays. On other days of the week, you might want to fill up on floral fruit sandwiches at this store in Nakameguro instead.
Store information
Floral baked doughnut specialty store “gmgm (gumugumu)” / お花の焼きドーナツ専門店「gmgm（グムグム）」
Address: Tokyo-to, Suginami-ku, Koenjiminami 3-60-10
東京都杉並区高円寺南3-60-10
Hours: 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Public holidays only.
Website
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