How to glaze a Christmas ham

Scoring the fat allows the glaze to stick and the fat to render, creating a glorious golden crisp finish.

Glazed ham by David Herbert. Picture: Guy Bailey

A glazed ham is a real festive showstopper. Removing the skin is easy and scoring the fat allows the glaze to stick and the fat to render, creating a glorious golden crisp finish. Perfect with this simple fresh pineapple relish.

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Christmas ham

5kg cooked ham on the bone
½ cup orange marmalade
½ cup brown sugar
¹⁄³ cup Dijon style mustard
2 tablespoons orange juice

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Take ham out of fridge an hour before you start. To remove skin, use a small, sharp knife to cut through skin 10cm from the top of the hock (knuckle end of leg). Gently slide knife under skin to separate it from the fat; gently peel back to reveal a layer of white fat. Use a knife to score fat diagonally, using a criss-cross pattern at about 2cm intervals without cutting into meat.

When ready to glaze, preheat oven to 180°C (fan). Line a large baking dish with 2 layers of baking paper. Mix glaze ingredients together until sugar has dissolved. Brush half the mixture onto the fat of the ham, making sure to get into the crevasses made by scoring. Place ham in baking dish, transfer to lowest shelf of oven and cook for 30 minutes, removing from oven every 10 minutes to baste ham with remaining glaze. Serve warm or cold with pineapple relish and your favourite vegetables or salad.

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Fresh pineapple relish

150ml cider vinegar
150g caster sugar
1 small pineapple, trimmed, peeled, cored and diced
2 small red onions, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
(leave seeds in if you like it hot)

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Bring the vinegar and sugar to a simmer in a large saucepan. Add pineapple and simmer for 1-2 minutes; remove from heat and transfer to a serving bowl. When almost cool, stir in onions and chilli. Cool completely, then chill for up to 24 hours until ready to serve.