Baked Ham with Cumberland Sauce that's easy and elegant. Delicious for holiday gatherings and Sunday dinners. Cumberland sauce is a fruity mix, savory and sour, with a slight sweetness. The ham caramelizes in the oven because of the brown sugar rub. Everyone likes this easy recipe! It gives that special touch to the meat.
Baked Ham with Cumberland Sauce
It almost comes with a delicious sauce when serving meat during the holidays. And whether that is a delightful jager sauce or a creamy mushroom sauce, it makes a piece of meat that little bit more special.
Cumberland sauce is a classic sauce that looks very elegant on the table. It is counted among the English classics, but did you know that the recipe was first made in Hanover, Germany, in the 19th century? The British Duke of Cumberland had ties to Hanover, which is also the link to the name. And although it originated in Germany, it is seen as one of the most delicious sauces in English cuisine. Cumberland sauce is delicious with game, ham, turkey, cold meats, roast goose, and duck. And this time served with baked ham.
When making this recipe, I chose to keep the ham simple because the complex tones of the sauce already give it enough flavor. A rub of brown sugar and mustard provides the ham with a delicious glaze. Together with the Cumberland sauce, an irresistibly tasty combination.
Jump to:
What do you need for Brown Sugar-Roast Ham with Cumberland Sauce?
To prepare this Baked Ham with Cumberland Sauce, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog.
Ingredients Cumberland sauce
- Lemon and Orange - You use both the zest and zest from the orange and lemon, which gives a light citrus flavor to the Cumberland sauce.
- Shallot - Adds extra flavor to the sauce. A shallot has a bit more spice compared to a regular onion.
- Redcurrant jelly - Jelly or jam made from red currants and sweet and sour. With a beautiful red color, and this redcurrant jelly with Port is great to use. If you can't find redcurrant jelly? Then use red currant juice. Make sure you shake it well before adding.
- Red Port - Use a sweet variety of Port wine. Ruby and Tawny are both excellent choices. If you don't want to use alcohol, replace it with apple juice, grape juice, or extra berry juice.
- Mustard - Use smooth yellow mustard. It gives the sauce a little kick.
- Cranberries (optional) - This sour fruit is delicious when stewed in sweeteners. You can use frozen or fresh cranberries.
Ingredients Baked Ham
- Ham - Ham is cured meat from the thick part of a pig's back leg. Because there was still bone in the ham during preparation, the meat becomes juicier. It is sold with and without bone. I used a small ham without bone for my family, but you can easily upscale this recipe with the buttons (servings) on top of the recipe card. If you use a raw ham, count of 40 minutes oven time per pound of meat. When using cured ham, use 15 minutes per 2 pounds of ham.
- Brown sugar - to give the ham a sweet glaze (outside). Brown sugar is used because it also provides a caramelized taste.
- Mustard powder - Has a pungent taste. Dry is almost tasteless, but the taste is activated by water. Ground mustard seed and mustard powder are the same things.
- Cloves - Use whole cloves that you insert into the ham. It is a warm aromatic spice, slightly peppery.
How to prepare Cumberland Sauce with Roast Ham
You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.
Make Cumberland Sauce from Scratch
- Cut the orange and lemon peel into very small strips. Blanch the orange and lemon zest twice for 1 minute in hot water. Put the chopped shallot with the lemon juice, juice of the whole orange, red currant jelly, mustard, and orange and lemon zest in a saucepan.
- Pour the Red Port into the sauce.
- Optional, but recommended, also add some cranberries to the Cumberland sauce. This gives extra flavor to the sauce.
- Bring to a boil on medium heat, taste, and season with salt and pepper. Let cool.
Making Roast-Ham
- Mix the brown sugar with the ground mustard in a small bowl.
- Cut the top of the ham crosswise. Press a clove into each intersection that has formed.
- Rub the ham with the brown sugar rub.
- Bake the ham in a preheated oven at 390 °F for 45 minutes, or until done. Baste the ham with the released marinade every 15 minutes.
To serve - let the sauce cool and warm it on low heat before serving. Put in a serving jug. Cut the ham into thin slices and serve with warm Cumberland sauce.
This ham with Cumberland sauce is delicious served with Hasselback potatoes and green beans with herb breadcrumbs.
Tips
- Prepare the sauce several hours in advance, and then let it rest. This makes the taste more intense and tastier.
- Blanch the orange and lemon zest twice. This removes the bitter taste of the skin and leaves you with a fruity flavor.
- Remove the ham from the oven and wrap it in aluminum foil. Let rest for 10 minutes. This will make it even juicier.
FAQ
The sauce is savory and fruity, sour yet slightly sweet (but certainly not too). This is due to the combination of red currant jam, Port, mustard and shallot.
Did you make this recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram. I enjoy seeing what your creation looks like. Video recipes can be found on my YouTube channel. And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest so you can easily find them next time!
📖 Recipe
RECIPE CARD
Equipment
- A conventional oven is used. When using a convection oven (with air fan) decrease the temperature with 30 °F / 20 °C
- oven dish
Ingredients
Cumberland sauce
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 1 orange, juice and zest
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 2 ½ cups red currant jelly
- 1 ¼ cup Port wine, Tawny or Ruby
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- Salt and pepper, at taste
Ham
- 1 ¼ pound ham, boneless
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 dry mustard
- 25 cloves
All my recipes are written both in Metric (gram / ml) and US Customary (cups / pounds). Here you can select which type of amount you would like to see.
Instructions
Cumberland sauce
- Bring a pan of water to a boil and add the lemon and orange zest. Blanch for 1 minute and remove the grater with a fine sieve. Repeat this step one more time.1 lemon, 1 orange
- Put the shallot, red currant jelly, Port, citrus juices, mustard, and the lemon rind and orange rinds in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.1 shallot, 2 ½ cups red currant jelly, 1 ¼ cup Port wine, 1 tablespoon mustard
- Taste and season with salt and black pepper.Salt and pepper
- Let cool.
Oven Baked Ham
- Remove the ham from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking, so it comes to room temperature.1 ¼ pound ham
- Preheat the oven to
390 °F or 350 °F - Mix the brown sugar with the mustard.½ cup dark brown sugar, 1 dry mustard
- Place the ham in front of you and, using a sharp knife, make diagonal shallow slashes across the top of the ham. You will then see squares on the top. Next, place the ham in an oven dish.
- Prick a clove at the intersection of each diagonal.25 cloves
- Rub the ham with the brown sugar mixture and place in the oven.
- Bake the ham for 45 minutes, or until cooked through (measure with an oven thermometer. The ham should reach a temperature of 150 °F (60 °C) in the thickest part). During baking, scoop some marinade out of the oven dish every 15 minutes and baste the ham with it.
- When the ham is cooked, remove it from the oven and wrap it in aluminum foil. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Serving
- Warm up the Cumberland sauce until it is hot and put it in a serving bowl. Cut the ham into thin slices and serve with the sauce.
Notes
Do you have any leftovers? Make sure you let it cool down quickly and store it away as soon as possible. Cumberland sauce
- Refrigerator - in a sealed container or screw-top jar, the sauce will keep for a week in the fridge.
- Freezer - store in a freezer box. This keeps it good for up to 1 month. After that, you can let it thaw at room temperature for about four hours before you need it.
- Refrigerator - Keep the ham covered in the fridge for up to 3 days
- Freezer - Wrapped in 2 layers of foil, it will keep for up to 1 month. Let thaw in the refrigerator.
- Reheat - Preheat the oven to 320 °F (160 °C) and place the ham in an oven dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 - 30 minutes until it is warm on the inside.
Nutrition
Leave a Reply