Sarah Hurley Blog: Perfect Baked Ham Recipe

I'm not the best cook in the world, I'll be the first to admit it! but I guarantee that every week someone, whether it's B, my Dad, Lisa or one of my friends, will ask me to bake them a ham (B has actually started bringing them home for me now from work like some men do flowers! lol) So today I'm sharing my recipe for the perfect Baked Ham...

What you will need:

A small smoked or unsmoked (depending on your preference, I always go for smoked!) gammon joint (these cost around £4-5 in Waitrose / Sainsburys or Morrisons)

2 litres of Dr Pepper

Marmalade (with peel)

Brown Sugar

Colmans English Mustard

A jug (pint) of water

To Make (approximately 2 hours)

Start by unwrapping your gammon joint (make sure to remove the plastic bit around the side too (done that!) and place in a very large pan (it should be almost twice as deep with space all around the edge

Pour over around half of the Dr Pepper and add a jug of water, if needed add more Dr Pepper (the liquid should be just above the surface of the ham, put the lid on your pan (I've experimented without the lid, it still tastes lovely but a little drier - keeping the lid on seals in all the moisture and makes for a tastier ham!)

Simmer slowly to a rolling boil and leave for approximately 20 minutes (this should take around an hour in total - I use the very lowest setting on my hob)

Once done, remove from the boil and pour away the liquid, place the ham into a pyrex (or similar) ovenproof dish, score the top with a sharp knife in two directions to make a checkerboard pattern across the top of your ham.

Spread some mustard (around a level tablespoonful) across the top of the ham, get into all the little cut areas you've just made

Add a heaped tablespoonful of marmalade and and spread over the top of the mustard and ham and into all the cut areas (I know marmalade and mustard sounds gross, but trust me, its awesome!) Sprinkle on a pinch or two of brown sugar

Bake on a medium heat for around 45 minutes or until the marmalade starts to bubble (I like mine to caramelise and go a little bit almost burnt at the edges)

Leave to cool for around half an hour (supervise if you have little piggies in the house - not mentioning any names!!) before cutting and serving with some lovely fresh bread (sourdough is my fave, tiger bread for B) or mash potato and pickles (Lisa's favourite)