Molasses Glaze for Holiday Ham
photo by HeatherFeather
- Ready In:
- 3hrs 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 6
- Serves:
-
24-32
ingredients
- 1 (8 -12 lb) precooked ham, bone-in (whole or half)
- 20 whole cloves, as needed
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1⁄2 cup molasses (Brer Rabbit)
- pineapple ring, as needed (optional)
- maraschino cherry (optional)
directions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Remove rind from ham and score the fat with a sharp kife, creating diamond shapes all over the surface.
- Stud ham with cloves (and pineapple & cherries, if desired- attach with either toothpicks or cloves).
- Place ham in roasting pan so that the wide flat cut side is down.
- Bake 2 1/2-3 hours for a whole ham, 1 3/4-2 hours for a half ham (or use the heating instructions provided on your ham wrapper, changing the cook temp if necessary as well).
- Mix dry mustard powder with the molasses and brush all over ham 30 minutes before the ham is done, returning ham to oven to contiune cooking at 325°F.
- TIP: Do not baste ham with pan drippings as this will make the glaze look dull.
- Once ham is cooked, let rest 10 minutes before carving.
- Do not eat the cloves- they provide flavoring as they bake, but should be discarded after cooking.
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Reviews
-
I was going through the "recipe reviews" the other day, when this caught my eye.....& I'm sure glad it did!!! I was roasting smoked duck on the grill & I thought this would be a perfect base for a glaze. I mixed the molasses with 2 T. brown sugar & 2 T. lemon juice....PERFECT!!! Can't wait to use this entire glaze idea on a ham. Normally, I use a ginger ale & brown sugar glaze along with the the pineapple & cherries. THANKS for sharing!!!
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I have always loved molasses and found I found this recipe when I was in a mad rush to dress my holiday ham (which was a Smithfield ham with the bone in - not spiral cut) with a glaze, I was curious. What a gem! Even if you don't like molasses, this recipe is still worth trying because the taste of molasses is extremely mild (I used blackstrap molasses, BTW) but it lends such a wonderful sweetness to the ham. It gave the ham a lovely colour and gloss, and although it doesn't penetrate through the scored fat, it did on the inside of the leg. Next time I'll trim down the fat layer a little bit to give the glaze a chance to seep through. It was nothing short of fantastic!