Sticky Toffee Glazed Ham
This Christmas ham is poached in cider then glazed in a rich sticky toffee glaze! The slices of ham are tender, juicy & have a perfectly caramelised crust. This one’s perfect for Boxing Day!
We’re taking a baked ham & glazing it with a rich miso toffee sauce! This glaze is like the sauce that you’d get with a classic sticky toffee pudding but with the addition of white miso paste & punchy Dijon mustard which gives it a more savoury, unami flavour. Sticky toffee pudding is one of my favourite desserts & the toffee sauce works exceptionally well as a glaze for ham. This ham is sweet, slightly salty & coated in a sticky, perfectly caramelised crust that’s packed full of flavour.
Other than the glaze, this ham is prepared & cooked the classic way. We gently poach a boneless gammon joint in cider, fresh veg, herbs & aromatics (black peppercorns) until just cooked then remove the skin, score the fat then roast in the oven whilst basting with the glaze. This is a really easy process & you end up with a ham that’s perfectly cooked with a well caramelised crust. You can serve this ham straight away whilst it’s hot or serve cold, as a festive cold cut. It’s great either way!
For more festive recipes, take a look at our collection of Christmas recipes! There’s lots to choose from here, from festive main courses, classic desserts & all the trimmings.
What You’ll Need
- Boneless Gammon Joint – This baked ham is perfect for sharing, so we’re using a 3kg joint of gammon, which will easily serve 8-10 people. You can use a smaller piece of gammon if you’d prefer though. I’d recommend getting a gammon from your local butcher. Ask your butcher for a boneless gammon joint that has been rolled.
- Poaching Stock – I like to poach my ham in a mix of cider, water, fresh veg, herbs & black peppercorns. Feel free to swap the cider out for beer, cola or just water if you’d prefer.
- Sticky Toffee Glaze – This ham glaze is inspired by a classic toffee sauce but with the addition of white miso paste & Dijon mustard for a more savoury flavour. You’ll also need golden syrup, dark brown sugar, butter & fresh orange juice.
How To Make Sticky Toffee Glazed Ham
Here’s how to make a tender joint of ham that’s poached in cider then roasted & glazed with a sticky toffee glaze that caramelises in the oven! This is a super easy to way to cook a ham & it’s perfect for Boxing Day!
A Note On Soaking Gammon Before Cooking
If you’ve got a salty piece of gammon, it will need an overnight soak in cold water before being cooked to reduce the salt content. I’d recommend asking your butcher whether your gammon needs soaking or not (some cures don’t require a soak). If you’re not sure whether your gammon needs soaking, it doesn’t hurt to soak it anyway!
Poaching The Gammon
The first step when cooking a ham is to gently poach it until it’s just cooked. This is key to preventing the ham from over cooking when we roast it in the oven, to glaze! And don’t throw the ham cooking stock away once you’re done with it! It can be used to make soups, gravy or a sauce for a pie filling.
To poach a gammon joint, we place it into a large saucepan along with cider, roughly chopped veg, herbs & a few black peppercorns. We then top the pan up with enough water to completely cover the gammon, set the pan over a medium heat then simmer gently until just cooked. For a 3kg gammon joint, this will take around 2½ – 3 hours. The internal temperature of the gammon should be 71°c/160°f at this stage.
Once poached, we need to take the gammon (it’s cooked now so would technically now be ham!) out of the poaching liquid & place it into a large skillet, ready to glaze. This also gives the ham chance to cool slightly, which will make it easier to remove the skin.
Sticky Toffee Glaze
This ham glaze is inspired by a classic toffee sauce (like you get on a sticky toffee pudding) & is super quick & easy to make. This is an all in one style toffee glaze & to make it, we place golden syrup, dark brown sugar, butter, orange juice, miso paste & dijon mustard into a pan then cook over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. You’ll need to give the glaze a whisk whilst it heats up, to dissolve the miso & the cook time will be around 3-4 minutes.
Roasting & Glazing
Before glazing the ham, we need to remove the rind/skin then score the fat in a criss cross pattern with a sharp knife. You’ll also need to preheat an oven to 200°c/392°f. Make sure to leave a thick, even layer of fat on top of the ham. As this is a Christmas style ham, we’re going to poke a whole clove into each of the scored diamonds.
To glaze the ham, we pour the warm sticky toffee glaze all over the ham then roast it in the oven for 20-25 minutes until nicely caramelised. As the ham bakes, we take it out of the oven every 5 minutes or so & baste with the glaze (this is why we roast the ham in a skillet!). This builds up an even layer of glaze & caramelisation!
Once glazed, the ham needs to rest for 20 minutes then we can cut it into slices, using a sharp knife. I like to spoon some of the excess glaze over the slices of ham to serve!
Serving Suggestions
This glazed ham is perfect for Boxing Day! A popular way to serve a Boxing Day ham is with loads of different side dishes, like mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, homemade bread (I’d go with dinner rolls!) & salad. You can use leftover ham as a sandwich filling or use it for a leftover Christmas dinner pie!
Tips & Tricks
- Soak your gammon overnight in cold water before cooking, to make it less salty. If you’ve bought your gammon from a butcher, it would be worth checking with them if it needs soaking.
- Gently poach your gammon to avoid over cooking it. Flavour your poaching liquid with plenty of fresh veg & herbs to add as much flavour as possible. I like to use cider to poach gammon in!
- Poach the ham until it is just cooked, to avoid making it dry after roasting.
- For perfectly cooked ham, use a digital food probe to check the meat’s internal temperature.
- Baste your ham with glaze as it roasts, to build up a thick, even layer of caramelisation.
Frequently Asked Questions
To cook a glazed ham in an Aga, poach the gammon on the simmering plate then bake on a grid shelf placed onto the floor of the roasting oven. If your pan fits in the simmering oven, pop it in there once the gammon has been simmering for 10 minutes (it might take a bit longer to poach like this).
Leftover sticky toffee glazed ham needs to be stored in the fridge & is best eaten within 3 days.
To avoid making the ham dry, we poach the ham a few degrees short of being fully cooked as it will finish cooking in the oven. If you’re just poaching a ham, you’ll need to cook it to an internal temperature of 75°c/167°f for it to be fully cooked.
The best way to reheat leftover glazed ham, is to place slices into a dish with any leftover glaze (or a splash of water) then cover with foil & bake at 180°c/356°f for 15-20 minutes until hot. You can serve leftover ham cold as well, if you’d prefer.
More Main Courses To Try!
- Cherry Cola Ham With Hot Honey Glaze
- Slow Roasted Prime Rib (Reverse Seared)
- Turkey Porchetta
- Mulled Cider Roasted Pork Belly
- Fried Turkey Christmas Sandwich
- Barbecued Pig In Blanket
- Classic Confit Duck Legs
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Sticky Toffee Glazed Ham
Equipment
- Large Saucepan
- Large Skillet
- Small Saucepan
- Digital Food Probe
Ingredients
- 3 kg Boneless Gammon Joint (Soaked If Necessary – See Notes)
Poaching Liquid
- 1 Litre Cider
- 2 Carrots (Roughly Chopped)
- 2 Celery Sticks (Roughly Chopped)
- 1 White Onion (Roughly Chopped)
- A Few Sprigs Of Fresh Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 10 Black Peppercorns
Sticky Toffee Glaze
- 200 g Golden Syrup
- 120 g Dark Brown Sugar
- 100 ml Fresh Orange Juice
- 50 g Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsp White Miso Paste
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
To Roast
- Whole Cloves (Optional)
Instructions
Boiling The Ham
- Place the gammon joint into a large saucepan then add in the cider, chopped veg, herbs & peppercorns.There's no need to peel the veg just make sure that they're all clean! Make sure to use a pan big enough to hold enough liquid to completely cover the gammon.
- Add enough cold water into the pan, to completely cover the gammon then cover the pan with a lid, set over a medium heat & bring to a gentle simmer.
- Gently simmer the gammon until it reaches an internal temperature of 71°c/160°f. This will take 2½ – 3 hours. Make sure to top the stock up with water if needed, so that the gammon is always covered. Turn the heat down slightly if necessary, to keep the stock at a gentle simmer.You'll need a digital food probe to check the internal temperature. Make sure to keep the liquid at a gentle simmer at all times – don't let it boil! I'd recommend checking the internal temperature of the gammon at frequent intervals after around 2 hours. The gammon needs to be just cooked once poached, as it will finish off in the oven.
- When your ham is almost ready, preheat an oven to 200°c/180°c fan (392°f/356°f).
- Once cooked, transfer the ham into a large, ovenproof skillet/pan then set to one side whilst you make the glaze.
Sticky Toffee Glaze
- Add the golden syrup, brown sugar, orange juice, miso & mustard into a small saucepan then set over a medium heat.
- Cook the glaze, stirring frequently until the sugar has dissolved & everything is combined. This will take around 3-4 minutes. You might need to use a whisk, to dissolve the miso.
- Once cooked, take the glaze off the heat & set to one side.
Glazing The Ham
- Using a sharp knife, remove both the string & the skin from the ham, leaving a thick & even layer of fat then lightly score the fat in a criss-cross pattern.
- Poke a whole clove into each of the scored diamonds in the fat then pour the glaze all over the ham.
- Next, place the ham into the preheated oven then roast for 20-25 minutes until nicely caramelised. Take your ham out of the oven every 5 minutes or so & spoon the glaze in the skillet over the ham, to build up an even layer of caramelisation.
- Once cooked, let the ham rest for 20 minutes then use a sharp knife to cut it into slices. Spoon some of the excess glaze over the sliced ham then serve.
