I am a big protein lover. Beef, chicken, pork, fish… I love it all, but aside from certain holidays, we don’t often have ham in the house. Last week, I had a photo shoot for these beautiful roasting pans and I used my old standby glazed ham recipe. It is a simple, no fuss recipe, so it had unfortunately fallen down my big list of exciting ones.
I am quite glad that I needed this recipe, because I forgot just how delicious this ham really is! It is sweet, juicy and perfect for everything from the main event of a holiday dinner spread to a quick ham sandwich for a mid week lunch. With minimal ingredients required, no special skills needed and very little baby sitting necessary, this maple citrus glazed ham is the only ham recipe you will need.
Let’s get started…
While this glaze can be used on any ham, I recommend using a bone-in spiral cut ham. A bone-in ham is much juicier than a boneless one and who wants to try to make a hundred super thin, even slices? Not me.
A bone-in spiral cut ham is the way to go here.
Begin by combining 4 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of maple syrup, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of pineapple or orange juice and a pinch of ground cloves into a small saucepan placed over medium heat. Bring the glaze to a simmer and let it simmer until it has reduced to a thick, syrupy consistency.
Unwrap your ham and place it into a roasting pan or deep baking dish. Brush some of the glaze over the entire ham and then cover the ham tightly with foil.
Bake the ham in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove the foil from the ham and brush with a generous amount of the glaze.
Increase your ovens temperature to 400 degrees and bake the ham for about 10 minutes. Brush with the remaining glaze and then bake for another 10 minutes or so to make sure the glaze is deeply caramelized.
Would you take a look at this beauty? If you go with a spiral cut ham, you can open the slices up a bit during your final glaze application and work some of the glaze in between them. You’ll be glad you did…
This maple citrus glazed ham is absolutely delicious. It is not surprising that the combination of sweet maple syrup and tangy citrus is amazing, but what it does to each slice of ham is downright magical and if you are looking for the perfect ham recipe for any occasion then this is it.
Maple Citrus Glazed Ham
Ingredients
- 8 pound bone-in spiral cut ham
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 1/2 cup of pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of pineapple or orange juice
- a pinch of ground cloves
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and generously spray the base and rack of your roasting pan with non-stick spray
- Combine 4 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of maple syrup, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of pineapple or orange juice and a pinch of ground cloves into a saucepan placed over medium heat
- Bring the glaze to a low simmer and cook until thickened to a syrupy consistency
- Place the ham on the roasting rack, brush with glaze and cover the ham with foil
- Transfer the ham into a 350 degree oven and bake for 2 hours
- Uncover the ham, brush generously with glaze and increase your ovens temperature to 400 degrees
- Bake for 10 minutes, brush with remaining glaze and bake 10 more minutes or until the glaze is deeply caramelized
