Marcia Adams's Maple Baked Ham

Marcia Adams built her reputation on straightforward, Amish-country cooking, and this maple baked ham is a perfect example of why her recipes stick around. A pre-cooked ham gets a slow oven warm-up, a bath in real maple syrup, and a clever pan-drippings trick that turns into a sophisticated mustard-Worcestershire gravy by the time the ham comes to the table.

The fat-removal step is the unsung hero of this recipe. After the first hour of baking, the juices go into a saucepan and straight into the freezer for 10 minutes. The fat congeals on top where you can scrape it off cleanly, leaving the flavorful drippings behind for the sauce. While the ham finishes glazing with maple, you whisk flour, dry mustard, water, and Worcestershire into the defatted drippings for a quick pan gravy that tastes like it took hours.

Chef Tips

• Use genuine maple syrup (grade A dark or grade B), not pancake syrup. The flavor difference is enormous.
• Score the ham’s fat cap in a diamond pattern before the first bake so the glaze penetrates.
• Baste only once after the syrup goes on; too much fussing washes the glaze right off.
• Pull the ham at 140°F (60°C) internal, since pre-cooked hams just need to be reheated.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of whole-grain Dijon mustard to the maple glaze for a sharper finish.
• Stud the ham with whole cloves in the scored pattern for a more classic presentation.
• Swap maple syrup for equal parts honey and bourbon for a Southern-leaning twist.