Christmas ham glaze recipes for a festive New Zealand feast

Glazed Christmas ham. Photo / Getty Images

Baking a ham for Christmas Day? Choose your favourite glaze to showcase on the festive table this holiday season.

Ham prep and tips

- Remove the ham skin and any excess fat, leaving as thick a layer of fat as desired (this keeps the ham moist). Score the ham on the diagonal to create diamond shapes.

- Follow the ham’s cooking instructions or, as a general rule, bake in a 170C oven until the ham is a dark golden brown colour and its internal temperature on a meat thermometer is approximately 60C.

- If the glaze looks like it’s colouring too fast, use a lower temperature and cover with foil.

Spicy Asian-inspired glaze recipe

• 3cm fresh ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 5 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 green chilli, or more to taste
• 2 limes, zest and juice
• 3 tsp five spice
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ cup palm sugar, grated, or brown sugar
• Star anise, for studding ham
• 1 bottle apple juice or cider

1. Roughly chop ginger, garlic cloves, kaffir lime leaves and green chillies.
2. Add the zest and juice of limes and blitz all to a smooth paste in a food processor.
3. Remove to a bowl, add five spice powder, salt and grated palm sugar (or brown sugar) and mix.
4. Stud the scored ham with whole star anise and rub on the glaze.
5. Bake in a roasting dish in a shallow bath of fresh apple juice or cider and baste ham frequently as you go.

Tropical pineapple and orange glaze recipe

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ pineapple, chopped
• 1 large orange, zest and juiced
• 1 bottle coconut water, for bath
• Pineapple rings, for garnish

1. In a food processor, blitz brown sugar with chopped pineapple and the zest and juice of the orange
2. Rub the glaze on the scored ham and garnish with slices of pineapple or orange (skin on).
3. Bake in a roasting dish with a shallow bath of fresh coconut water and baste ham frequently as you go.

Rum and cola glaze recipe

• ½ cup rum
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 1-2 Tbsp dijon or hot mustard
• Cloves, for studding ham
• 1 can cola

1. Mix rum with maple syrup, the zest and juice of a lemon, and Dijon or hot mustard.
2. Stud ham with cloves. Brush the glaze all over, bake in shallow bath of cola and baste ham frequently as you go.

Chipotle and plum glaze recipe

• 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1 cup plum sauce (or canned black doris plums in syrup)
• ½ cup sake (or white wine) ⅓ cup rice wine or cider vinegar
• Sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 cinnamon stick
• A few cardamom pods
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 bottle of orange or apple juice

1. Finely chop chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and add to a saucepan with plum sauce (or use 1 cup canned black doris plums in syrup – stones removed), sake (or white wine) and rice wine or cider vinegar.
2. Add fresh thyme, cinnamon stick, a few cardamom pods and a bay leaf and gently simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Cool and strain to remove herbs and spices.
4. Rub the glaze all over and bake in a shallow bath of orange or apple juice, basting frequently as you go.

Recipes / Warren Elwin