Raspberry glazed Christmas ham

Method

1. Preparation

   Preheat the oven to 170°C.

2. Glaze

   To make the raspberry glaze, place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and set over low heat. Gently heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside for flavours to infuse, until cool. Strain through a fine mesh sieve.

3. Ham

   To prepare the ham, score the skin around the ham bone where it joins the meat. Run a knife under the skin to separate from the fat. Work your fingers in between the skin and the fat to lift off and discard the skin.

4. Cooking

   Place the ham on a rack and set on top of a deep tray, to catch the cooking juices. Score the fat 5 mm deep into a diamond design. Stud with cloves. Pour 2 cups (500 ml) water into the tray, to prevent drips from burning. Brush one-third of the glaze over the ham. Bake for 1 1/ 2 hours. Glaze ham every 20 minutes or so, until caramelised. Top the drip tray up with water as required. Remove ham from the oven. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. Slice to serve.