Coca-Cola Christmas Ham
Indulge in the magic of Christmas with our Coca-Cola Christmas Ham! Immerse the ham in a bath of Coca-Cola, spices, and aromatics. After a gentle simmer, glaze it with a mixture of Cuniffe Waters Ham Glaze, cinnamon, and cloves. Finish in the oven, and voilà - a succulent ham with a perfect blend of sweetness and warmth. It's a festive show stopper that will have your guests coming back for more!
Serves 6—8
Effort: Moderate
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours
Gluten free
Ingredients
3-5kg ½ leg of ham
1 small onion, peeled and halved
4-6L Coca-Cola (you will need to top the pot up as the ham cooks).
4 star anise
6 peppercorns
Cloves
For the Glaze
1 Jar Cuniffe Waters Ham Glaze
1 tsp cinnamon
Cloves (for studding)
Instructions
Place the ham in a large Dutch oven or soup pot, big enough to fit at least 3/4 of it. Add Coca-Cola, onion, star anise, and peppercorns (ensure the Coca-Cola covers at least 3/4 of the ham). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 2.5 hours with the lid slightly ajar, topping up the cola if needed. Tip - cover with foil if the lid won’t fit.
Mix the glaze ingredients and set aside. Once the ham is cooked, let it cool a bit, then remove the skin, leaving a layer of fat.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the ham in a lined baking tray of foil and baking paper, make crisscross grooves in the fat to create diamond shapes. Baste the ham with the glaze and stud each diamond with a clove.
Bake for 30 minutes, basting every 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before serving or cool before placing in the fridge to serve cold when needed. Pour any glaze left in the bottom of the tray into a dish for extra glazing/ drizzling later.
Hints & Tips
Prepping Ahead - You can precook the ham and glaze when needed. Adjust the basting time to 40-45 mins from room temperature just keep an eye on the glazed area of the ham as not to burn it.
For Cooking a Bigger Leg of Ham - Place a deep-sided baking tray in the oven before adding Coca-Cola, onion, star anise, and peppercorns. Cook covered at 140°C fan for 2.5 hours, turning the ham every hour. Top up the cola half way through..
Once cooked take out of the Coke liquid and transfer to another baking tray. Leave to cool slightly before taking the skin off, scoring the fat and following the glazing instructions as above.
Tips for Baking Trays - Use two large foil trays together for strength and deep sides.
Cooking without Coke-Cola - If you don’t have a pot big enough you can follow the glaze instructions and still enjoy the scrumptious glaze flavours on their own.
Storage - After glazing or serving, cover loosely with tin foil or a clean damp tea towel, or use a ham bag. Keeps for 1 week in the fridge.
