Sunny's Apple-Bourbon Ham Glaze

Ingredients

1 cup apple cider

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup bourbon

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Teeny tiny pinch of ground cloves

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

One 7- to 10-pound precooked spiral ham

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

To make the glaze, add the apple cider, brown sugar, bourbon, pumpkin pie spice and cloves to a large pot. Turn the heat to medium high and cook, while stirring, until the liquid reduces and becomes slightly thickened like a glaze, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the butter and stir to melt. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Lay out plenty of aluminum foil to wrap the ham in and create a bed for it. Place the ham in the center of the aluminum foil and pull the sides up around it, leaving the top exposed. Pour over half the glaze, getting it into the spirals. Finish tightly wrapping the ham and place it on a rack in a roasting pan. Fill the pan with water, but do not let it touch the bottom of the ham.

Cook until the internal temperature reaches about 140 degrees F (gauge 15 to 20 minutes per pound). Remember, it is already cooked, so you just need to bring it to temperature without drying it out.

Remove the ham and raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Pull back the aluminum foil (watch out--it's steamy and hot!!). With a brush and the remaining glaze, slather the top of the ham, allowing the glaze to get into any creases of the spiral you see. Place back in the oven uncovered but still sitting in the foil and roasting pan, an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and rest 10 minutes before serving.