With Christmas just around the corner we thought it would be good to share this sticky, caramelised glaze for your Christmas Ham! The glaze contrasts well with the natural saltiness of the ham, and with a little bit of fat around the outside, it simply melts in your mouth. Yum!

It’s a bit of a tradition to have a ham cooking in the oven over the festive period so if it’s your first time or you just want to improve your recipe here are some top tips:

1. To keep the ham succulent and moist you need to remove the skin, but remember to keep the white fat underneath as this adds flavour when it’s cooked.
2. You need to re-glaze your ham several times whilst it is cooking to make sure you get it caramelised on top.
3. Experiment and go with what you like, for example if you like a hint of orange use some marmalade, if you like sweet pineapple use the juice!
4. Make sure rest your ham for at least 15 minutes if not longer before you slice and serve.

And here is a yummy recipe to try out this Christmas:

Ingredients

half a leg of ham

¼ cup whole cloves

1½ cups water

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup liquid honey or maple syrup (or to jazz it up a bit, you can use marmalade jam)

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

½ cupbrandy, rum or pineapple juice

Method

Pre heat oven to 175 degC

Take a small sharp knife and cut a zig zag shape into the skin at the base of the ham. Using the small knife, loosen the skin away from the white fat along the cut edge. This is where you need to keep the white fat on the ham, to keep it moist. Loosen the skin by slipping your fingertips underneath, then pull the skin away, back to the zig zag at base of hock. Use a knife to score the white fat diagonally at about 2cm intervals. Push a whole clove into the criss cross or centre of each diamond.

Place ham in a roasting dish, add water to the base of the dish and place in the oven for 20 minutes (the water helps prevent it from drying out).

Meanwhile make the glaze by placing the brown sugar, honey or maple syrup and mustard into a saucepan and heat for a few minutes over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in brandy, rum or pineapple juice.

After ham has cooked for 20 minutes remove from oven and brush well with the glaze. Return to oven for another 20 minutes. Re-glaze and bake for another 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the water level and add some more if you need. Re-glaze and cook for a final 20- 30 minutes. The ham should be caramelised and golden. Once ham is cooked, remove from oven, cover with foil and set aside to rest for about 15 minutes until ready serve. Collect the ham juices and glaze from the base of the roasting dish and give the ham one final glaze with this just before serving.

To serve, transfer ham onto a chopping board or large platter and slice thinly. Yummy!  

Toast your friends and family and then dig in!