Twelve Days of Irish Recipes: Ben & Gail's Honey Glazed Ham
Written by Ciaran on Dec. 08, 2025 | 0 Comments
We're sharing one of our own recipes each day as part of our 12 Days of Christmas offers, inspired by that traditional carol and the funny Irish version, Christmas Countdown.
Day 8: The main event
These days, turkey reigns supreme on the Irish Christmas dinner table. But the older, more traditional centerpieces of the Christmas feast are still going strong! Spiced beef is still a go-to for many, especially around Co. Cork.
But my seasonal fave is ham. This is really a Christmas treat for me, as I don’t eat it at any other time of the year. Many families will have it alongside turkey, and there are all manner of recipes for it as a result.
A honey-glazed ham enthusiastically studded with cloves.
There are no hard and fast rules except, perhaps, to cook it low and slow, the secret to tender meat. Some cook it in liquid flavoured with aromatics, others in apple cider. A few inventive sorts even recommend the very unconventional addition of cola to the cooking liquid! The other common denominator is to use some manner of sweet glaze that contrasts beautifully with the salty, savoury ham.
We are very lucky to have Ben and Gail in the family, a pair who know how to source and cook a spectacular ham! They have very kindly shared the recipe that we get to enjoy each year, and I can confirm that it yields incredible results!
Ingredients
- 1 Ham joint
- 1 Bay leaf
- Approx. 3 tablespoons Honey (you want a good slathering, so add more if you've got a big ham!)
- Approx. 20 Cloves (again, add more or less depending on the size of your ham and whether you enjoy the taste. Whatever you add, remember to take them out before eating. Whole cloves are not enjoyable to chomp down on).
Method
- First of all, catch a pig! The best ham is made using meat from an animal that has led a good life, so it is well worth trying to source high-quality, free-range meat. We are lucky enough to be able to buy ham produced from pigs that roam wild on Inishcorkish Island in Lough Erne in Co. Fermanagh. No humans live on the island, so the pigs have the run of the place, and they can feast on the lovely wild grasses, herbs, and flowers. You can really taste the difference, and as a result, we don't feel the need to add lots of other ingredients when cooking. The pig has done it for us!
- For 10 people, we order a 7-9lb ham, and everyone always eats more of this than we expect! Any leftovers go down a treat in a sandwich the following day. Ham can be bought smoked or unsmoked/plain; we prefer unsmoked for roasting with honey and cloves. In some parts of rural Ireland, the butcher might refer to the unsmoked ham as ‘green’. This is a colloquial term to distinguish it from smoked ham.
- The evening before you want to eat the ham, place it in a large pot, big enough for it to fit and be completely submerged in cold water.
- Add your Bay leaf (and whatever aromatics you fancy) and bring the water just barely to the boil before reducing it to the gentlest simmer.
- If the pot is very full, crack the lid slightly to avoid it boiling over onto the stove top. You want to keep all that liquid in the pot, as you don't want the meat drying out. If you do lose some and the ham is sticking out of the water, just top the water up.
- Simmer on this low heat for 20 minutes per lb. Depending on the size, this will be several hours! Cooking ham is a marathon, not a sprint.
- When the time is up, turn off the heat and replace the lid firmly.
- Leave to cool naturally overnight in the water (do not drain); this gives a lovely, moist ham.
- On the day of the meal, a few hours before dinner, open the pot, skim the frothy salts off the top of the cooking liquid, and fish the ham out before roughly drying it off.
- With a sharp knife, peel off the tough outer skin and then score (about 1” apart) the remaining fat in a diamond, criss-cross pattern all over.
- Place the ham on a trivet in a roasting dish. If you don’t have one, you can make one by coiling a large sheet of aluminium foil into a shape to keep the ham from sitting in its own juices. The entire piece of meat roasts this way, and you get crispy bits all over!
- Brush the entire top and sides with honey to glaze. You can also use marmalade, dark brown sugar, or molasses and add in the likes of whiskey or mustard if you fancy. You just need something sweet that will caramelise! We keep bees, so we have a generous supply of honey, and we don’t spare it for this recipe!
- Dot the scored fat with whole cloves. We often do this on one half of the ham and leave the other half without. This keeps everyone happy.
- Make a ‘tent’ of aluminium foil over the ham, making sure that it doesn’t touch the meat.
- Bake at 350°F/175°C for about 30 minutes; then remove the foil and continue baking for another 20-30 minutes, basting with the honey every so often.
- Roast until the honey is nicely browned, but keep checking it regularly, as it can burn quickly.
- When it has a lovely roasted brown finish, remove from the oven, and allow to rest for approximately 30 minutes before carving into slices.
Inishcorkish Island, aka. Pig Island
For those curious to know what an island inhabited solely by pigs looks like, here is a video shot by Allster with the farmer Patrick on the beautiful Lough Erne. Happy pigs indeed!
What's Next?
Check back in with us tomorrow for Day 9 of our Twelve Days of Irish Christmas, or open door number 8 of our 12 Days of Christmas offers! And, of course, if you need any help selecting a gift for yourself or a loved one, please do get in touch.
Get In Touch
Have a question or something you're not entirely sure about when browsing our pieces? Please reach out. You can send us a note or give us a call—the Dublin workshop is here to make sure that you have a perfect experience from start to finish with My Irish Jeweler.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, to see what's new and upcoming. Join our Email list for early offers and special features.
Ciaran
My Irish Jeweler
Born in Co. Antrim and reared in Dublin, I was fascinated with Gaelic culture from an early age. I suppose it's not surprising given my mother inherited a grá for the Irish language from my grandfather, an Irish school headmaster. And that grá continues! My brother and sister are now Gaelic teachers here in Ireland, my niece is an award winning Irish dancer, and I proudly work to share Irish culture through our Irish and Celtic Jewelry at My Irish Jeweler!
I love researching and reading about the history of Irish design. It's at the core of what we do here at My Irish Jeweler. I find much of it so interesting that I have to share what I find. I hope you enjoy it!
Comments
Ask Gemma
