By The last week before Christmas. The daycare closed Friday for the break and I have eleven days off, the longest stretch of time I have had to myself in years. I made a list of things I want to do and then folded it and put it in my pocket and decided to be flexible about all of it.
I have been experimenting with a new cookie this week: a brown butter snickerdoodle that I developed by making Gloria's base snickerdoodle recipe but browning the butter first. The brown butter adds a nutty caramel depth that makes the cookie taste more complex without tasting different in any way you could point to directly. You just know it is better. I made a big batch, packaged them in small boxes tied with twine, and delivered them around the neighborhood to Mrs. Patterson who gives me zucchini, to the elderly man across the street who always waves, and to the daycare director as a thank you for the year.
Christmas Eve is Friday and I will be at Gloria's for the candlelight service at New Hope Baptist and then back for her special Christmas Eve ham that I am cooking because her hands cannot manage the scoring and glazing. The ham gets scored in a crosshatch pattern, studded with whole cloves, glazed with a brown sugar and mustard and apple cider vinegar mixture, and baked low and slow until the glaze is lacquered and fragrant. I have been thinking about this ham since October. Some things are worth the long wait.
The ham I described scoring and glazing for Gloria’s Christmas Eve table is the kind of recipe that lives in your imagination for weeks before it ever hits the oven — and this Maple-Peach Glazed Ham captures exactly that spirit: sweet, fragrant, and deeply satisfying in the way only a slow-baked centerpiece can be. If you’ve been carrying a dish around in your mind since October the way I have, this is the one to finally make. It belongs on a holiday table surrounded by people you love, in a house that smells like something worth coming home to.
Maple-Peach Glazed Ham
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 1 bone-in fully cooked ham (6 to 8 pounds)
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup peach preserves
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- Whole cloves, for studding (about 30 to 40)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 325°F. Place ham flat-side down in a roasting pan and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes while the oven heats.
- Score the ham. Using a sharp knife, score the surface of the ham in a crosshatch pattern, cutting about 1/4 inch deep and spacing cuts roughly 1 inch apart to create a diamond pattern.
- Stud with cloves. Press one whole clove into the center of each diamond on the scored surface.
- Make the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the maple syrup, peach preserves, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes until slightly thickened and fragrant. Remove from heat.
- Apply first glaze and bake. Brush about one-third of the glaze generously over the ham. Tent loosely with foil and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Glaze and finish. Remove the foil. Brush the ham with another third of the glaze and return to the oven uncovered. Bake for an additional 45 to 60 minutes, brushing with remaining glaze every 20 minutes, until the exterior is deeply caramelized, lacquered, and an internal thermometer reads 140°F.
- Rest and serve. Remove the ham from the oven and let it rest, tented loosely with foil, for 15 minutes before slicing. The glaze will continue to set as it rests.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 1180mg