A brown sugar glazed ham is a little luxury I love at Christmas time, I can’t get enough of the salty ham and sweet glaze that has just a little kick of heat, thanks to the mustard.

It’s not hard to make a glazed ham and they always look impressive, especially if they’re studded with whole cloves. I choose not to stud mine with cloves because it’s not nice to bite into a forgotten bit of clove and young children are always present at our gatherings.

Don’t forget your turkey, Christmas pudding and pavlova.

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 1 hr 10 mins

Serves: 15-20

Ingredients

• 1 x 4kg leg ham
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbs honey
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 1 tbs butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Combine the sugar, honey, mustard and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
3. Use a sharp knife to cut through the ham rind 8-10 cm above the shank. Use your fingers to gently lift the rind away from the layer of fat underneath. Discard the rind.
4. Score the fat to make a diamond pattern and wrap the end of the shank in alfoil to prevent it burning.
5. Place the ham in a large baking dish and brush 1/3 of the glaze all over the layer of fat. Reserve the remaining 2/3 of glaze.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the ham from the oven and brush on another 1/3 of the glaze.
7. Cook for 20 minutes, before basting the ham with the last 1/3 of the glaze.
8. Cook for a further 10 minutes, then remove the ham from the oven.
9. Allow the ham to rest for 10 minutes before carving.