Set oven to 40°c. Place flour in oven to heat while working through the recipe.

Mix boiling water, milk, sugar in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the the yeast. Leave to stand until bubbles appear.

Add 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture and mix well.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add egg, salt spices and vanilla. Mix well.

Combine the spice/butter mixture with the yeast mixture. Add fruit and mix with well.

Add most of the warmed flour to create a firm dough. Tip out onto a flowered bench and knead for 10 minutes. Cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size.

Knock dough down. Cut into 20 pieces and form into buns. Cover with cling film. Leave to double in size.

Turn the oven up to 200°c. While the buns rise make the pastry for the crosses. Add flour to a food processor. Cut butter into 9 cubes. Add to flour. Pulse to mix butter into the flour. While pulsing, add water in a stream until a bread crumb consistency is reached. Check that squeezing crumbs together will form a ball. Tip onto a floured bench and form into a ball. Refrigerate until the buns have risen.

Roll pastry to around 3mm thin. Cut strips of pastry 1cm in width and long enough to cross the top of a bun. Brush milk onto pastry and place crosses on each bun.

Cook buns at 200°c for 10-12 minutes.

While the buns cook make the glaze. Mix sugar and milk in a pot and boil for 2 minutes.

When buns are cooked generously brush glaze over buns while still hot. Place on a cooling rack.