Gather your ingredients: the flowers, caster sugar, a paint brush for cleaning and application, water for washing, and lots of kitchen roll (off-camera). Flowers are usually crystallised with egg white and can last for 2-3 days, but as I had no plans to use mine for a couple of weeks I used longer lasting gum arabic, which I ordered online.
I picked my primroses on a dry day, after the dew had lifted, but as it had been raining heavily on and off over the past few days and the flowers were splashed with soil I decided to wash them with a quick dip in water. I wouldn't actually recommend doing this though, as the petals could get waterlogged and folded over onto themselves and soil still clung on even after a vigourous plunge; next time I'll use a soft brush to remove any soil.
The gum arabic comes in powdered form and needs to be dissolved in a clear liquid; I used gin! I painted the reverse side of the flower first, and then held by the stem to paint the right side of the petals, then sprinkled caster sugar all over. Leave them to dry out overnight on a sheet of greaseproof paper, then store in a Tupperware in the fridge until needed.
Here are the results, a little bit of Spring crystallised and preserved for a while longer yet. I plan to use them on my Mum's birthday cake, in early May. And finally here is my helper, who took a liking to the sugary water that I was washing my sticky fingers in (no primroses were washed in this water after this incident).
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