In a sauce pan, add the milk, butter, cloves and cardamom and heat it until the butter melts. Let it cool down to lukewarm temperature. Strain the milk and use it in the dough.

I made the dough in my food processor. Add the flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, raisins and spices to the bowl of the food processor.

Add the sour cream and give it a mix.

Now add the lukewarm milk to the flour mixture and form a soft dough. If needed add a little more flour or milk.

Knead the dough until it is very soft and then place it in a greased bowl. Cover it with a plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and place it in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in volume.

Once the dough is risen, punch it down gently and then divide it into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece of dough into a taut ball and place it on a parchment lined baking dish.

Using a butter knife, make a deep cut in the shape of a cross on each ball.

Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it proof again until they are puffy. About 45 minutes to an hour.

In the meantime, mix all the ingredients mentioned to make the cross. Transfer the paste to a Ziploc bag and seal it.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Once the dough balls have puffed up, use a pastry brush and liberally brush the top of the buns with the cream and milk mixture.

Now make a small hole in one corner of the Ziploc bag with the flour paste and draw the cross over the buns right where we made a cut.

Place the buns in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top of the buns are golden brown and shiny. Keep an eye starting from about 15 minutes as the cooking times vary by the oven.

Remove the buns on a cooling rack and serve warm with butter.