Baked Ham with Molasses and Bourbon

That should be enough for my first helping

Of course we picked a day where the high hit 91 to make this. The recipe is loosely based on one my wife found on Epicurious. She knew she wanted bourbon, molasses and pecan and viola! Since our ham was only around 11 pounds we were able to glaze the ham twice.

Glazed ham with a southern twist

• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1 3/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 cup pecans, toasted, cooled, finely ground
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 2-3 tablespoons marmalade
• zest from one orange
• 1 whole bone-in 16- to 18-pound ham

Boil cider and bourbon in small saucepan until reduced to about 1/3 cup, around 6 minutes. Combine brown sugar, ground pecans, molasses, marmalade and zest in bowl. Add bourbon mixture and stir. Ours wasn’t a paste, but was a good bit thicker than molasses.

Preheat to 325°F. Line large roasting pan with foil. Trim off skin and all but about a 1/4 inch fat. Place ham, fat side up, in prepared pan. We used a roasting pan with a rack to keep the ham from sticking to the foil. Roast until thermometer at bone registers 130°F to 135°F. This will take about 10 minutes per pound.

Remove ham from oven; increase temperature to 425°F. Lightly score fat on ham in diamond pattern. Rub glaze thickly over top and sides of ham. Return ham to oven and roast until glaze is deep brown and bubbling, about 25 minutes. If you have extra glaze, reglaze about half way through. Let ham rest at least 20 minutes and up to 45 minutes.