Honey Glazed Ham
Honey Glazed Ham! Beautifully glazed and wonderfully festive. All ready for the celebration? Enjoy!
Servings: 12 pax
Ingredients
Ham and decor
- 2.5 kg bone in ham
- Optional: 20-25 cloves for decorating the ham
Glaze
- 3 tbsp apricot jam
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp honey mustard
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp five spice powder
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
For the bake:
- 500 ml water
- 2 bulbs garlic (halved)
- 2 onions (halved)
- Juice of half a lemon
- Lemon quarters of the other half lemon
Instructions
Prepare the ham
- Using a sharp knife, remove the ham rind. Cut the rind vertical from the bone and along the edges. Gently run fingers underneath the rind and tear it out (Note: I like to remove the rind in two halves - watch the video @0.25min to see how it’s done).
- As you remove the rind, try and keep the fats intact so that it can render and brown beautifully. Lightly score 1-inch diamond cuts along the fats. Optional: Place cloves at the edge of each diamond for the clove fragrance and a festive look. Set the ham aside and make the glaze
Glaze
- In a milk pan, add all the ingredients for the glaze and mix till well combined. Place the prepared ham on a rack in a lined baking tin. Then glaze the ham all over exuberantly! Be generous as this honey glaze is delicious.
Baking the ham
- To the baking tray, add 500ml water, the halved garlic bulbs and onions and juice in half a lemon. Slice the remaining lemon into quarters and add in. Bake at 160C for 1 1/2 hours, basting every 20 minutes. Optional: I like to turn the ham on its side and bake the base first. After the first 20 minutes, I remove it from the oven, turn it right side up, glaze generously and return to bake. Bake at the lowest rack (for easy glazing) and baste the ham every 20 minute until slightly charred and beautifully golden.
Prepare the sauce
- Once out of the oven, transfer the ham and condiments onto a serving plate to cool. Add the drippings and liquid in the baking tin to the remaining glaze. Put the milk pan on the stove on high heat until the sauce is nicely reduced. Sieve out any residual condiments and the sauce is ready. Just before serving, I like to add a sprig of rosemary or parsley for some Christmas green. Brush the ham generously once more with the delicious sauce and it’s all ready for the slicing. Enjoy.
Notes
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#1 Removing the rind - the key to success is to use a sharp paring knife. Do not cut too deeply and slice into the ham. Instead make small cuts in the rind (typically about ~1/8 to 1/4 inch deep) and gently run fingers underneath the rind to carefully tear it off. The idea is to try to keep the fats intact as much as possible as they will render most wonderfully and give that beautiful browning with a nice char.
# 2 Bone-in-ham – I always like to get a bone-in-ham, if I can. It’s much juicier than boneless ham because the juices tend to run out of the ham where the bone is cut out.
#3 Glaze - I like to use apricot jam for its fruity sweetness. I typically use low sugar or sugar free fruit jam. You can easily substitute apricot jam with marmalade or any type of fruit jams that you prefer. Jams are typically sweet so I like to balance the sweetness with mustard and apple vinegar for that fragrance and tartness. You can also use balsamic vinegar in place of apple cider vinegar which should work too.
#4 Scoring the ham - I like to score the fats lightly into 1-inch diamonds. This allows the delicious glaze to seep into the crevices and into the ham. You will also get caramelized edges on each diamond with a bit of char which gives great color and flavor! The magic moment is when the ham bakes - as it bakes, these diamonds ‘bloom’ spectacularly into cute tiny ham squares giving such a festive and celebratory feel. Well what can we say, this Honey Glazed Ham is the Grande Dame that everyone loves at Christmas parties and therefore she must be immaculately ‘dressed up’ in all glory for the occasion!
#5 Cloves, Yes or No? - Yes! I like to add cloves to my Honey Glazed Ham for its piquant fragrance and they do give such a rustic celebratory look. A point to note, the cloves do tend to fall off during glazing so if one is particular to have a complete rustic clove look, stick them fallen ones back after the ham is baked and slightly cooled.
#6 Water in the baking pan – adding water is a must to stop the drippings from burning. Plus, adding water creates a moist steam bath environment for the ham, allowing it to roast and brown beautifully without burning. If you like, one can also substitute water with wine which will give additional flavor to the drippings and the sauce. But I don't find that necessary as the honey glaze already gives the ham incredible flavor.
#7 Baking the ham - Baste baste baste! Basting the ham every 20 minutes is to give it that shine and delicious glaze coating. And continue to baste generously with sauce even after baking and just before serving. It is like glamming up your ham with a beautiful outfit of perfect color and stunning char silhouette! Then be prepared to bask in the oohs and aahs of your audience when you bring out this Honey Glazed Ham celebration piece!
#8 How to avoid burnt bits – The thing is our family really like the charred bits so I typically leave it alone and simply baste more generously over the char to keep it moist (trust me..these bits have so much flavor and taste amazing). Okay, but if the ham starts to get really a little too burnt, one way to avoid too much charring is to cover up with foil patches. Simply press the foil patches gently onto the burnt bits and it should stick easily to prevent further charring.
#9 Make ahead - I usually prep the ham and prepare the glaze days ahead even a week as they keep well chilled. On the day of serving, I simply slather with glaze, bake and serve!
#10 Storage - this Honey Glazed Ham tastes most amazing served warm on the day of baking. If the ham is already sliced, keep any leftovers airtight and chilled and consume within 4-5 days. I find sliced baked ham tend to become a little dry overnight as there is greater exposed area once they are sliced. These are perfect for making ham sandwiches or a simple salad.
To keep ham that has not been sliced, I like to cut it into bigger chunks / blocks, cling wrap and freeze. These will keep well for a couple of months. To consume, defrost in the fridge and then wrap in foil and warm up in the air fryer or oven. Once it is warmed up, slice and enjoy.