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Glazed Christmas Ham

Classic honey and brown sugar glazed ham for the Aussie Christmas table. Scored, studded with cloves and basted until deep golden brown.

Prep
20 min
Cook
1 hr 15 min
Total
1 hr 50 min
Serves
16

Updated

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Ready in 1 hr 50 min, serves 16.

Total time
1 hr 50 min
Serves
16
Course
Main
Cuisine
Australian
Ingredients
7
Steps
7

Make ahead / storage: Once cooled, wrap the carved and uncarved portions separately in clean, lightly damp tea towels or ham bags and store in the fridge, where it keeps well for up to a week.

Glazed Christmas leg ham scored in a diamond pattern and studded with cloves on a white platter

A whole leg ham is already cooked when you buy it, so what you're actually doing here is glazing and warming it through, not cooking raw meat. That changes the approach: the oven time is about getting a sticky, caramelised crust on the outside without drying out the ham underneath, so a hot oven for a shorter time works better than a long, slow one.

Scoring the fat in a diamond pattern isn't just decorative. It gives the glaze somewhere to pool and caramelise, and it's what lets you push a clove into the centre of each diamond so they don't fall out during basting. Skip the scoring and the glaze mostly slides straight off the smooth fat.

Baste every 15-20 minutes without exception. The glaze burns quickly once it starts to caramelise, and a ham left unbasted for 30 minutes in a hot oven can go from golden to scorched in the time it takes to deal with something else in the kitchen.

Buy a ham sized to your crowd with leftovers in mind, since a Christmas ham is as much about the sandwiches over the following days as it is about the table on the day itself.

Recipe

Glazed Christmas Ham

Prep
20 min
Cook
1 hr 15 min
Total
1 hr 50 min
Serves
16

Ingredients

16 Servings

Ham

Glaze

Method

  1. Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan-forced). Remove the ham from the fridge about 30 minutes before you start, it glazes more evenly if it isn't fridge-cold.

  2. Step 2: Using a small sharp knife, cut around the shank end of the ham and peel back the skin, leaving a layer of fat on the ham. Discard the skin or keep it to lay over the ham during resting to stop it drying out.

  3. Step 3: Score the fat in a diamond pattern, cutting about 5mm deep, being careful not to cut into the meat underneath. Push a whole clove into the centre of each diamond.

  4. Step 4: Whisk the brown sugar, honey, mustard, orange juice and vinegar together in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth and the sugar has dissolved.

  5. Step 5: Sit the ham in a large roasting tin and brush generously all over with the glaze. Pour about 1 cup of water into the base of the tin to stop the drippings burning.

  6. Step 6: Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, basting with the remaining glaze and any pan juices every 15-20 minutes, until deep golden brown and sticky all over.

    Tip: Tent the shank end loosely with foil for the last 20 minutes if it's browning faster than the rest, the thinner meat near the bone catches first.

  7. Step 7: Rest for 15 minutes before carving. Carve in thin slices working parallel to the bone.

Tips

  • Score only through the fat, not the meat. Cutting too deep lets the juices escape during baking and the ham dries out faster.
  • If the glaze starts catching and darkening too fast in patches, loosely cover that section with a small piece of foil rather than turning the oven down, which slows the caramelising everywhere.
  • Keep back a few tablespoons of unused glaze, warmed gently, to brush over the carved slices on the platter for extra shine and flavour.

Variations

  • Gluten-free: check your mustard brand, some are thickened with wheat flour, otherwise this recipe is naturally gluten-free.
  • Pineapple glaze: swap the orange juice for pineapple juice and add a few canned pineapple rings, pressed onto the ham with extra cloves for the last 15 minutes of baking.
  • Maple version: swap the honey for pure maple syrup for a slightly less floral, more caramel-forward glaze.

Storage and make-ahead

Once cooled, wrap the carved and uncarved portions separately in clean, lightly damp tea towels or ham bags and store in the fridge, where it keeps well for up to a week. Carved ham also freezes well for up to 2 months, sliced and layered with baking paper.

Nutrition per serving, estimated

Calories
310
Protein
32g
Carbs
17g
Fat
13g

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