Pinterest helped me very much in my endeavors, and the copycat version that I found was very good. With a few tweaks, I think I have it spot-on now! Check out this step-by-step version, followed by the recipe!
Ham
First, I was given this bone-in ham in a frozen state; I thawed it in my fridge. It was already fully cooked and smoked, but not yet sliced, so I did my best to cut it into pieces without demolishing it. I sure could use some lessons on slicing up meats! I lined my roasting pan with two layers of Heavy Duty aluminum foil in a crossed pattern to be sure to cover all of the pan... I hate doing dishes! You can get a pre-sliced ham if you'd like, and you don't have to use the foil if you like to scrub pots and pans.
Glaze
Next up, we are going to make a beautiful syrup to pour over the ham. We're basically cooking sugar into almost a candy state along with a bunch of yummy spices and then letting it set on the ham.First into the pot is sugar. Plain old granulated white sugar.
Onion powder goes in next. It adds quite a savory element to the mixture.Then cloves, paprika, and ginger. Ginger is not my favorite flavor, so I go easy on the ginger in this version. You can add a bit more if your family likes the flavor more.
Alton Brown is one of my favorite TV Chefs, and he always touts the superiority of freshly ground nutmeg, versus its pre-ground counterpart. I always grate my own as a result of AB's teachings! (My hubby got me this nice little Microplaner a few years ago, and I use it often to zest citrus, shred up Parmesan cheese, and grate some nutmeg into my favorite dishes!)
Next, add some water to turn this mixture into a paste.
Stir this very well and then put on the stove. You're going to need to turn on the heat to this and cook it for several minutes. Also, turn your oven broiler on. Mine only has a "HI" setting and a "Lo" setting. I put mine on low and took out the top oven rack to give me plenty of space.
Cook it over medium high heat for several minutes; the mixture will start to bubble around the edges. Keep on cooking until it comes to a nice boil. The color will even change just a bit because of all the bubbles.
Take off of the heat, and begin pouring it over the ham. You can spoon it, ladle it, or just go for it and pour from the pan! I chose to ladle it today.
Keep spooning, ladling or pouring until you get the ham covered nicely.
Once your ham is covered, you're going to put your ham in the oven under the broiler, and you're going to WATCH IT. Almost immediately, you're going to hear sizzling. Do not walk away. You can even leave the oven door open to watch it.
I like to turn my ham a few times to be sure that all of the sugary coating turns into a sort of bark.
You want the sugar to caramelize but not burn. Keep turning it as needed.
Your house will begin to smell fabulous at this point when the heat warms up all those beautiful spices.
Look at all that beautifully caramelized sugar bark on this lovely piece of ham! There should be a bit of a crunch.
You can serve this as it is, you can warm it up so that the meat is warm all the way through, or you can put this whole thing in your fridge and let all the spicy goodness in the coating really sink into the meat.
Let this ham be the star of your family gathering this year! Your guests will "ooh" and "ahhh" over the wonderful flavor of this ham!
Recipe for Copycat Honeybaked Ham
Ingredients
Pre-cooked, pre-sliced, bone-in ham
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp paprika
a couple tablespoons of water
Instructions
Line a roasting pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil with excess on each end. Use an additional layer to form a cross with 3-4" excess all around the pan. Place the meatier side of the ham face up in the pan. If desired, score the meat. Pre-heat broiler.
In a saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients. add enough water to form a thick syrup. Heat over medium- high heat stirring until the syrup reaches a full boil. Boil one minute until almost a candy state. Remove from heat and ladle over the ham. Cover all of the visible areas of the ham.
Place in the pre-heated oven. Watch the ham carefully. Turn the pan as different areas of the ham glaze become caramelized. Keep turning as needed. This process takes five to ten minutes. When the glaze is caramelized onto the ham, remove from the oven.
To Serve Cold:
Cover the ham with the excess foil, put the lid on roasting pan, and place in the refrigerator. Refrigerate until ready to use; several days in the refrigerator will allow the flavors to penetrate the meat.
To Serve Hot:
Heat your oven to 350 degrees, and cover ham with excess foil. Bake for 30 minutes until ham is hot through.
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