Elevate your holiday feast with Sammy Jakubiak’s Fig & Balsamic Glazed Christmas Ham. This deliciously sweet and savory recipe combines tender ham with a rich fig and balsamic glaze, creating the perfect centerpiece for your festive celebrations.

Ingredients

Glaze:

  • 1 cup fig paste (or 1.5 cups dried figs, chopped soaked in boiling water for 30 mins and puréed)
  • 1.5 cups of balsamic vinegar (white or black)
  • 1 stick of cinnamon
  • 6 cloves whole
  • 1 spring of rosemary
  • 1 orange, zest only, flesh for later use
  • 1.5 – 3kg size whole ham (bone in or boneless is fine)

Garnishes:

  • 1 Orange, peeled and flesh sliced
  • 1 bunch fresh bay leaves
  • 1 bunch rosemary leaves

Ham Sandwiches:

  • French style baguette
  • Butter
  • Leftover ham
  • Horseradish, jarred
  • Dijon
  • Red radishes
  • Cucumber
  • Dill
  • Dill pickles
  • Swiss cheese or other

Instructions

  1. Place all the glaze ingredients into a sauce pan and cook on a medium simmer till reduced about 20%. 
  2. Remove skin from ham without removing too much fat. If using ham on the bone, cut a even score into the skin around the top of the bone. Only remove skin from the main ham to keep some skin on bone for presentation. 
  3. Preheat oven to 160c. Prepare a baking tray with baking paper. 
  4. Score the fat of the ham in criss cross pattern or parallel lines. Place ham on the baking tray. Start to baste the ham with the glaze till you get an even coating with a little run off. You’ll keep basting with the reserved glaze and use the run off glaze from the baking tray during cooking. 
  5. Depending on the size of your ham, cook for 45 mins – 1.5hrs. If you have a thermometer you can check the ham and cook the centre to 57c. 
  6. Cook basting every 10-15 minutes. Half way through cooking add the sliced peeled orange on top of ham or beside it. If there are any very caramelised bits you can spot cover them with foil to protect. 
  7. Once finished cooking, remove from the oven and baste with all the pan glaze drippings. These are the best bits and stick very well to the ham for the final presentation. 
  8. Serve on a platter or large chopping board with garnishes. Pre slice some ham when serving.
  9. Left over sandwiches with ham are the best. You can of course do any combination but my personal favourite has at minimum a french baguette with butter, ham, dijon and pickles.

Merry Christmas!

Chasing more chocolate, holiday themed recipes? Try Emelia’s Double Chocolate Candy Cane Cookie recipe!