Invite a crowd over and get out your good china. Holiday ham is cause for celebration all on its own. And here’s a secret that you’ll be celebrating while your guests are digging in: While I used to glaze my ham with a full 3/4 cup sugar, I now use only 3 tablespoons, along with tasty sugar-free preserves, in this case apricot. I promise you, no one at the table will be the wiser. I like to serve baked ham with extra brown mustard on the side for slathering over the salty, juicy slices.
Ingredients
- 1 whole cured ham (10 pounds)
- 3/4 cup sugar-free apricot preserves
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons brown or Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Cover a large roasting pan with aluminum foil and place a roasting rack in the pan.
- Score the fat of the ham in a diamond pattern (see Note). Place the ham on the roasting rack. Bake for 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the preserves, brown sugar, mustard, ginger, and pepper. Continue whisking until melted, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Remove the ham from the oven and spread the glaze all over the ham. Return the ham to the oven and bake until the glaze is thick and slightly caramelized, about 30 minutes more.
- Transfer the ham to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Serves 12
Note: To score the skin of your ham, remove the thick outer rind, leaving behind about a 1/2-inch-thick layer of fat. Using a very sharp knife, lightly slice into the fat to create a diamond pattern over the surface of the fat. The scoring will help to render the fat, making for a tasty, crispy outer layer.
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