Soak the fruit in advance. Place the raisins, sultanas and currants into a bowl with the orange juice and sherry. Cover and leave overnight to macerate and plump up. If you don’t want to do this step, simple pour boiling water over the fruit, soak for 20 minutes then drain and cool.

The following day, drain any liquid from the fruit and set this aside. Add the dried citrus peel to the soaked fruit along with the zest of 1 ½ oranges.

Begin by making the dough. Combine all of the dough ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for 4-5 minutes until the dough starts to come together. Even though the dough will be quite sticky, there should be no flour left at the bottom of the bowl.

Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading for 7 minutes to develop the protein in the dough. The dough will start to form a ball around the dough hook and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Add the dried fruit and chocolate to the bowl and mix for another minute to distribute them evenly. Transfer the dough to a large, lightly buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place to prove for 1 to 1½ hours, or until it doubles in size.

Next, line a baking sheet with baking paper and set it aside. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to knock back the air. Cut and shape the dough into 12 even portions, rolling each one into a round bun. Use flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Alternatively, weigh the dough and divide it by 12 for evenly-sized buns.

Arrange the buns on the prepared baking sheet in a neat grid of 12. Cover the buns with a tea towel and leave them in a warm place to prove again for 30 minutes, or until they double in size.

While the buns are proving, preheat the oven to 180C and make the cross mixture. Combine all the ingredients for the mixture in a bowl and whisk them together until they form an elastic batter. Adjust the consistency by adding water to make it thinner or flour to make it thicker.

Transfer the mixture to a Ziploc bag and snip a small corner to make a piping bag. Once the buns have doubled in size, pipe the mixture onto the buns in long continuous lines down the middle, then cross over those lines in the opposite direction, intersecting them exactly in the middle of each bun.

Bake the buns in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

While the buns bake in the oven, prepare the glaze. In a small pot, combine all the glaze ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook over low heat for about 5-7 minutes while stirring occasionally, until the mixture has reduced by half and has a thick and syrupy consistency. Once removed from the heat, the glaze will thicken further as it cools. If it becomes too thick, simply reheat it briefly to soften it up.

Once the buns are out of the oven, while they are still hot, use a pastry brush to generously brush the tops with the sticky glaze, making sure to coat the sides of the buns. It is not necessary for the glaze to be hot, as it will melt once it comes into contact with the buns.

Enjoy the hot cross buns fresh with butter, or store them for the next day to toast and enjoy.