The Flavor-Packed Ham Upgrade That Starts With Apples And Mustard

Baked ham is a crowd-pleasing dish that makes holiday entertaining easy. If you're bored of the standard pineapple and brown sugar glaze, you can breathe new life into this entree by reaching for a different fruit. To give this comforting staple a rich, caramelized upgrade, apples are the superior choice. 

Making a baked ham with apples and mustard is deceptively easy to prepare, but the end result makes for a beautiful presentation and a delicious dinner. By baking apples inside the ham, the meat stays juicy and gets a rich flavor, while the honey and mustard marinade imparts just enough sweetness and bite. Deep, earthy spices like cardamom make this dish stand out, making this ham feel like a special-occasion meal rather than a predictable choice. 

You will need a 10-pound spiral ham for this recipe, along with honey, stone-ground mustard, cardamom, and baking apples. Baking apples can include favorites like Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn, or any apple that can hold its texture under low, steady heat and has a good balance of tartness and sweetness. Wash, core, halve, and then slice your apples into thin rounds. 

Once your apples are sliced, take them and gently tuck the slices in between your ham spirals. The ham will bake with the apples right inside, keeping the meat juicy as the apples soften and bake in the hot oven. Now make your marinade with stone-ground mustard, honey, and garlic. 

Here you can choose between cinnamon or cardamom for your marinade. Cinnamon will offer a earthy richness, while cardamom will give a peppery, smoky sweetness. Either option will complement the tart, honeyed marinade and the salty meat, or you can place fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme on top of your ham or between your ham spirals for a woodsy herbal flavor.   

Brush the marinade all over, cover the ham with foil, and then let it bake in a low oven for an hour. Remove the ham and baste it again, making sure to get the marinade in between the slices so it can soak into every bite. Remove and baste the ham with pan drippings if desired, then serve warm. This honey mustard and apple ham also works well as leftovers for cold sandwiches the next day.