GMGM

Pretty Doughnuts with Flowers on Top
[published November 2021]

“gmgm”, only 3 minutes on foot from Koenji Station along the railway on Koenji Street, is a café specializing in magnificently decorated doughnuts.

The feature of these doughnuts is the decoration of edible flowers. The addition of the edible flowers makes them look astoundingly beautiful. The owner has a direct relationship with farmers in Shimane and Tokushima prefectures to ensure quality and safety.

Another unique characteristic is that the doughnuts are baked, not fried. This reduces calories, and the product is made from whole-grain flour and millet sugar. The most popular product is their cream cheese strawberry & safflower doughnut. The owner suggests the reason is due to the adorable pink colour and its catchy image. Their gift boxes, which include doughnuts and dried flowers, are also popular.

With one bite of these delicately decorated doughnuts, you experience a burst of fragrance. The texture of the doughtnuts is more like fruit cake and the sweetness is quite subdued with more of an emphasis on the fruits and grain of the cake, and a light icing that lets you appreciate the subtleness of the dried flower toppings. With the takeout doughnuts, it is recommended to give them a 10 second zap in the microwave which gives a softness to the cake and gets that icing glistening, as well as reinvigorating the aroma.

The owner and his wife, a dried flower artist, run a bar in Tokyo (Ikebukuro) with the concept of “flowers and drinks,” and began thinking of opening a sweets shop with the concept of “flowers and sweets.” The couple accidentally found the ideal property in Koenji and said that Koenji is a very unique place where people wear their favourite clothing freely and walk around the streets. They also thought it would be nice to run a shop in such a town with their concept of “flowers and sweets.”

The couple also show their concept in the decoration of the shop. They want people to feel that flowers are a part of their everyday lives, so they have created a relaxing atmosphere with dried flowers and antique-style furniture. Though they are only open Fridays and weekends, if you have a chance to enjoy a beverage and a lovely doughnut in the charm of “gmgm” or even get takeout as a special gift, it will surely be a memorable experience.

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Writer/Photographer: Miho
Additional photos provided courtesy of Gmgm