Pour the yeast into a large bowl along with the sugar and 1/2 of the water. Set aside for 5 minutes then stir together.

Add the flour, mixed spice, salt and ~1/2 cup (125ml) of water. Use your hands to mix everything together in the bowl, adding more water a bit at a time as needed, to get a moist, firm dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and firm.

Pour some oil into the bowl you were using and place the dough into it, turning to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled in volume - about 2 hours.

Once the dough has risen tip it out onto a surface and pat down into a large circle. Sprinkle with the dried fruit then roll the dough up and knead it a few times to incorporate the fruit. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Cup your hand around a piece of dough and use a firm, circular motion to shape it into a ball. Poke a hole in the centre of the ball and gently stretch the hole out to be about an inch wide - it sounds large but as they sit the hole will shrink up!

Oil a baking tray, preheat the oven to 400F (200C) and bring a large pot of water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, lower the heat so the water simmers. Gently lift one bagel and lower it into the water. Leave to boil for 1 minute then flip and boil for another minute. Remove to the baking tray and repeat this boiling with the rest of the bagels.

Place the plain flour into a medium bowl and gradually stir in the water until you get a thick, pipeable paste (you won't need all the water). Scoop the mixture into a sandwich bag and and snip off the corner then use it like a piping bag to pipe crosses over the bagels - it doesn't matter that the paste will be dripping through the holes as you can pull that bit off after it's baked.

Bake the bagels for 20-25 minutes until golden and risen. Leave to cool before slicing and toasting - serve with butter (and lemon curd is delicious, too).