In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, dried instant yeast, salt and spices.

Rub in the butter.

Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, then pour in the beaten eggs.

Stir the mixture to start bringing it together, gradually adding enough milk to create a ragged ball of dough. Stir well to make sure there's no bits of dry flour unmixed in.

Cover with cling film or a wet tea towel and leave overnight or 12-14 hours at room temperature.

Put the sultanas and dried peel in a heatproof bowl and pour over enough hot black tea to cover.

When cool, cover and set aside in the fridge until the next day.

Pour the soaked fruit into a sieve and press down to remove as much liquid as possible. Set aside to drain while you complete the next step.

Tip: spreading the drained fruit on kithen paper will help to get rid of more liquid.

Lightly flour a clean work surface and scrape the dough out onto it.

Knead the dough until smooth (approx 5 minutes) dusting sparingly with only as much flour as you need to prevent sticking.

Flatten out the dough, then sprinkle the soaked fruit over it.

Bring up and fold over the sides of the dough to cover the fruit.

Continue this folding process until the fruit is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Sparingly dust with flour to stop it sticking.

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper or baking parchment.

Divide the dough into 8-10 equal pieces (for accuracy, weighing is recommended).

Lightly knead and fold each piece into a ball: try to use as little extra flour as possible as this will prevent the dough coming together into a smooth ball.

With your fingers and side of your hand lightly touching the worksurface, a dough ball cupped beneath, quickly move your hand in a circle several times to finish shaping the dough into a neat, round-topped ball.

Set each ball on the lined baking tray.

Cover the balls with oiled cling film or a wet tea towel and set aside until almost doubled in size (approx 1 hour).

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 C / 180C Fan / Gas 6 with a shelf in the middle and a roasting tray on the bottom shelf (this will be filled with water later to create steam and help the buns rise).

Make the paste for the crosses:

Mix the plain flour, icing sugar and enough cold water to make a thick paste.

Transfer to a piping bag, piping syringe or squeezy bottle then set aside.

Check that the dough is proofed:

If, when a finger is gently poked into the dough, the dough slowly springs back but leaves a slight indentation then it is ready to bake.

If the dough springs back quickly then it's not yet fully proofed: leave it another 5-10 minutes and check again.

When the dough is ready to bake, pipe a paste cross on top of each bun.

Put the tray of buns in the oven.

Immediately pour cold water from a jug into the hot roasting tray in the lower part of the oven then close the door.

Leave to bake (without opening the oven door and letting the steam out) for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes carefully open the oven door (caution: there will be a lot of very hot steam so keep your face, hands etc. out of the way) and, if necessary, turn the tray around to ensure the buns cook evenly.

Cook until the buns are golden brown (approx 5 min more) and remove from the oven.

Lightly warm the honey, dandelion syrup or other liquid sweetener and brush generously over the buns.

When cool enough to handle, transfer the buns from the baking tray to a cooling rack.

Buns can be stored in an airtight container once completely cold.

Serve split, toasted or untoasted, spread with butter.

Eat within 2 days or freeze on the day of making.