Are you ready for a dish that’s going to knock your socks off?? This is a meal that we first made for a big family gathering, and once we did, we realized we’d found one of our very favorite recipes to make for times of celebration. While ham might be a dish mostly associated with Easter – though it has its moments around the holidays as well – we’re here to say it’s one of our new favorites, and this particular recipes truly goes above and beyond.

Spiral ham is a great choice for feeding a big group, since it’s easy to add flavor and you really don’t need to worry about it cooking for the right amount of time or until it reaches a certain temperature, since it’s already smoked and all you need to do is heat it up while adding in whatever elements you like. Then you’re fit for a feast! Here, we whipped up a honey mustard sauce seasoned with cardamom, cinnamon, garlic and onion powder to brush over the ham and in between the slices, but that’s not the most exciting part….

What’s great about this dish is that we basically “hasselbacked” the ham and wedged thinly sliced apple in between the ham slices. You guys, it made such a difference! The apples enhance the sweetness of the ham, but also add a yummy, refreshing element, that’s totally delicious, plus, with the spiced honey mustard sauce that goes on top – this dish is perfection. One thing to note: the sugar in the honey will caramelize (and burn) in the oven, so you can tent your ham with aluminum foil to avoid it, if you want.

We left our ham un-foiled because we love the flavor that comes with just a touch of char on the outside of the ham, but it’s up to you – you can’t go wrong either way! Just promise us you’ll try out this ham. We’re making it this year for Christmas dinner and will likely make it again in Easter if we don’t find another occasion to make it for beforehand.