Festive Ham Glaze

Ingredients

• 1 AFS Double Smoked Leg Ham
• 2 x jars Beerenberg Australian Blood Orange Marmalade 300gm
• 150ml of port or red wine
• 3 x bay leaves from the Spicebar
• 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of cloves from the Spicebar

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 170°C. At the cut-end of the ham, work a knife gently between the skin and the fat leaving as much fat as possible on the ham.
As the skin comes away, gently work off the skin with your fingers or knife, taking care to leave the fat on the ham.

2) As you get about 15cm from the bone end, take a sharp knife and carefully cut through the skin in a series of small, connected triangles so that the whole skin will come off.

3) Now use a sharp knife to gently score the fat across the whole ham in long parallel lines about 1-2mm deep and 3cm apart, then long parallel lines diagonally across the first lines to create diamond shapes. Gently rub a light layer of sugar (about ½ cup) over the fat (reserve the remaining sugar for the glaze). Now stud one clove into the center of each diamond.

4) Place a water-filled pan in the bottom of the oven. Put the ham on a large tray lined with baking paper and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

5) For the glaze, empty the marmalade into a saucepan with the port (or wine), the bay leaves and the remaining sugar. Heat on low until bubbling and thickened, stirring occasionally.

6) Remove the ham from the oven when lightly browned and drizzle with 2/3rds of the thickened glaze. Turn the ham around (to prevent burning one side) and return to the oven for 40-50 minutes (cover with foil if it starts to burn).

7) When the ham is out of the oven, gently reheat the remaining glaze until hot and bubbling and pour over for a final, glossy finish.

Christmas Day isn’t complete without the hero of the day – a classic glazed ham on the bone!