I always make a ham on Christmas Eve and I like to try out different recipes in search of the ultimate ham. A few weeks ago I had a supermarket festive food catalogue through the door and in it was a ham with a salted caramel and bourbon glaze. It’s been stuck in my head since then and I knew I had to try and create something similar with a festive twist.

I was sent some Westons Mulled Cider to try out and as good as it is to drink I managed to somehow save some to cook my ham in.

This recipe is incredibly simple to follow and gives an absolutely divine result. Perfect Christmas Ham.

You will need:

1 pint of Westons Mulled Cider
Ham (mine was 1.5kg)

For the glaze:

Shop bought or previously made salted caramel sauce

Or

150g of Caster Sugar
100ml of water
80g butter
1/2 tsp of sea salt

Place your ham in your slow cooker and pour over a pint of mulled cider and turn on low. Leave for 8-10 hours.

Preheat your oven to gas mark 6.

At the end of the cooking time, remove from the slow cooker (turn it off but leave the stock inside) and place in a roasting tin to rest (I scored the fat at this point and studded with cloves – optional)

In a pan heat your sugar and water together until golden, remove from heat and carefully add your butter and 1/2 tsp of sea salt, shake the pan gently to combine and return to the heat for 2 minutes before spooning over your ham. Place in your hot oven for 10 minutes,remove and baste before placing back in the oven for a further 10 minutes until bronzed and beautiful.

Rest before carving.

You can also make an amazing sweet sauce to accompany your ham by adding two cups of your stock to your sticky roasting pan and stirring until it all combines, them tip into a small pan and simmer over a low heat until it reduces.

I cannot tell you how good this tastes, the ham is beautifully tender and the flavour of the mulled cider comes through in every bite and the sticky sweetness of the caramel is just incredible.

* I was gifted Westons Mulled Cider to sample and review.