Serves a Crowd
Heavenly HOLIDAY Honey Baked Ham
- Serves 6-10 people
Author Notes
I developed this recipe sometime in the early 2000s. I was living in New York and had a great group of friends that held potluck dinners every few months. When the Holidays came around, I decided that my contribution would be a Honey Baked Ham…the only hitch, I had never baked a gamin my life, in fact no one in my family even liked ham, much less thought of it as appropriate holiday fare. That said I rose to the challenge. I combed every recipe I could find, picking and choosing from the best. Such was the birth of my masterpiece. It was so popular in fact that my friends adopted it as a Holiday favorite, and so did my family! Now I get to share it with all of you. I hope you enjoy and Happy Holidays to you all! —nycnomad
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Mulled Apple Cider Brine
-
1/2-1 gallons
Fresh Apple Cider
-
1/2 cup
Mulling Spices
-
1
4-8 lb Ham (I prefer a low sodium or smoked uncured ham)
-
1
Pot large enough for the ham to be completely submerged in apple cider, with a lid
- Honey, Maple, Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze
-
1/2 cup
Organic Brown or Muscovado Sugar
-
1/2 cup
Honey
-
1/4 cup
Grade A Maple Syrup
-
1/2 cup
Raisins
-
1 tablespoon
Powdered Mustard
-
1/4 cup
Cloves (decorative)
Directions
- The day before: Remove the ham from its packaging a place it an enormous pot. Cover completely with apple cider.
- Add the mulling spices.
- Cover and place on the stove, over a low flame. Simmer for 2 hours.
- Remove from the flame and allow to cool. Place (as is, pot an all) in the refrigerator over night.
- 2- 2 1/2 hours before you want to serve the ham, heat the oven to 350F. Remove the ham from the pot and place in a deep baking dish, cut side down. Reserve the mulled cider for the next step.
- Score the surface of the ham with a sharp knife, cutting on the diagonal, and again on the opposite diagonal. Don't go more than 1/4" deep. The result is a lattice diamond pattern.
- Insert cloves at the corners of the diamonds. This will add flavor to the ham while giving it a decorative spiked appearance.
- Pour 2-3 cups of the mulled cider over the ham, more for larger hams.
- Cover the ham with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Cook for 45 minutes turning over (skin side down) half-way through.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, raisins and powdered mustard with 1/2 cup of the reserved mulled cider (discard the rest).
- Remove the ham from the oven and raise the temperature to 425F. Remove the aluminum foil and brush the surface with 1/3 of the glaze and return to the oven. Cook uncovered for 10-15 minutes Repeat the glazing process every 10-15 minutes until the glaze is gone.
- In order to achieve a deep caramel color, baste the ham with some of the mulled cider from the baking dish. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes and repeat at least 2 times or until the desired color is achieved.
- When the ham has reached the desired appearance, remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 20- 30 mins.
- Transfer the ham to a serving dish, carve and enjoy.
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