Cherry blossom donuts scheduled to arrive well before the cherry blossoms themselves, but we’re not complaining. Even though they only bloom for about two weeks, cherry blossoms captivate people’s min

Cherry blossom donuts scheduled to arrive well before the cherry blossoms themselves, but we’re not complaining.

Even though they only bloom for about two weeks, cherry blossoms captivate people’s minds for a much longer time. As we get closer to the start of cherry blossom season, anticipation builds and builds, to the point where you can almost taste sakura.

And that won’t just be metaphorically speaking soon, as Krispy Kreme Japan will be baking up batches of sakura donuts before the month is over. The chain has unveiled its new Happy Flowers donut line, consisting of two varieties, but the one that’s going to really be grabbing sweets fans’ attention is the Sakura Cream.

This pretty-in-appropriately-pink pastry has the look of a cherry blossom in full bloom, thanks to its ruby chocolate coating and five sakura petals drawn in white chocolate. An extra artistic touch comes from the shaved sakura chocolate that’s sprinkled across the top, bringing to mind the carpet of petals that appears in parks as the wind blows through the sakura trees’ boughs and their blossoms scatter to the ground. There’s more sakura flavor inside the donut too, thanks to a** sakura cream filling**, apparently so much that the donut can hardly contain it all, judging from the above preview photo.

Just like the real-life cherry blossoms tend to dominate people’s flower-related attention in spring, the Flower Custard donut will probably have a bit of a hard time stepping out from the Sakura Cream’s shadow. For those who do have the mental bandwidth/stomach capacity for a second donut, though, they’ll find an Original Glazed donut upgraded with a custard-flavor coating decorated with a chocolate flower with a matcha chocolate stem, which sounds like it should be a very pleasing combination.

The Sakura Cream is priced at 334 yen (US$2.15), and the Flower Custard at 313 yen. Both go on sale February 16 and are slated to be around until early April or until supplies run out, whichever is first, but since that’s likely to be the latter, you might want to get your sakura donut fix before the cherry blossoms themselves show up.