Give your Christmas centrepiece the star treatment with this glorious ham glaze.

Prep Time : 0:30 | Cook Time : 1:45 | Total Time : 2:15 | Serving : 8 person.

Ingredients

• 10kg cooked leg of ham

• Whole cloves, to decorate

• 1 cup raw caster sugar

• 1 cup orange juice, strained

• 12cm-long strip orange rind

• 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

• 1 cinnamon stick

Method

• Step 1

  Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. Cut through ham rind 8cm from shank. Run your thumb under rind to separate it from fat. Peel back, sliding your fingers under rind as you go. Remove rind. Using a small sharp knife, score fat diagonally at 3cm intervals to form a diamond pattern, being careful not to score fat too deeply. Pierce each diamond with a clove. Wrap shank end in foil.

• Step 2

  Place sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, occasionally shaking pan, for 4 to 5 minutes or until melted and caramelised. Remove from heat. Carefully stir in juice (the mixture will splatter) to form a toffee-like consistency. Return to heat. Cook for 2 minutes or until toffee dissolves. Add rind, peppercorns and cinnamon. Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stand for 10 minutes to thicken. Strain through a fine sieve. Discard solids.

• Step 3

  Place ham on a wire rack in a roasting pan. Add boiling water until it reaches 2cm up side of pan. Brush ham with 1/4 caramel mixture. Bake, basting with mixture every 20 minutes, for 1 hour 30 minutes or until golden. Remove foil from shank and serve.