Baked ham with spiced applesauce is one dish you will want to try for a special meal. My girls just love a good baked spiral ham: the smell of it roasting in the oven for hours, the look of the meat all fanned out on a serving tray, and the way it makes your mouth water just waiting for your turn to be served. Yes, they are all dedicated ham fans, and because of this I get frequent requests to cook a baked ham for dinner. The traditional way to serve a spiral ham is with a sweet glaze, but its also nice to change it up. You can do this by leaving the ham plain and serving a spiced applesauce with it.
If you are planning on serving spiral ham for Thanksgiving this year, I encourage you to serve it with our roasted sweet potatoes with cranberries, and hasselback potatoes, which are shown with these ham pictures. If you are looking for a complete Thanksgiving menu to serve with your ham, we have also picked out a warm spinach apple salad, butternut squash soup, soft dinner rolls, mulled apple cider, and pecan pie with homemade vanilla ice cream. Are you getting hungry?
Baked Ham with Spiced Applesauce
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Prep Time: 25 minutes -
Cook Time: 3 hours
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Total Time: 3 hours 25 minutes
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Yield: 20 servings
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Pin RecipeDescription
Baked ham with spiced applesauce is a refreshing way to serve ham, and the cranberries give the spiced applesauce a wonderful burgundy color.
Ingredients
For the Ham
- 10-pound fully cooked spiral ham, fresh or frozen
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Spiced Applesauce
- 4 apples, cored and quartered (I used Granny Smith)
- 2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 cups apple juice
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
For the Spice Sachet
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 teaspoons pickling spice
- 1 small piece of ginger root, peeled
- piece of cheesecloth
- length of string for tying
Instructions
Baking the Spiral Ham
- If using a pre-cooked frozen spiral ham, thaw out in the fridge for two days.
- Preheat the oven to 300 F.
- Rinse the ham and pat it dry, placing it flat side down in a large roasting pan.
- Rub olive oil all over the ham and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Cover the ham with aluminum foil and bake for about 12 minutes per pound to reheat it. Remove the foil for the last 1/3 of cooking time.
- When the ham is warmed through, remove from oven and tent loosely with foil to keep warm. Since the spiral ham is precooked, be careful not to overcook it, or it will be dry.
Making the Sachet
- Cut a piece of cheesecloth large enough to hold your spices.
- Lay the cinnamon stick, pickling spices, and fresh ginger root on the cheesecloth.
- Gather up the loose ends of cheesecloth and tie securely with string.
Making the Spiced Applesauce
- In a large saucepan, stir together the quartered apples, cranberries, brown sugar, apple juice and apple cider vinegar over medium high heat.
- Place the spice sachet in the saucepan, cover, and bring it to a boil. Then, turn the heat down and simmer for 20 -25 minutes. The apples should be really soft.
- Remove the sachet and discard.
- In small batches, puree the apple-cranberry mixture in a blender until smooth.
- Pour the spiced applesauce into a medium serving bowl and serve warm with the baked spiral ham.
Notes
- For a small dinner party, serve the spiced apple sauce in small ramekins at each place setting.
- For a large dinner party, serve the spiced apple sauce in a medium serving bowl.
- This apple sauce tastes great by itself, too.
- There is no need to peel the apples, for the apple sauce.