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Glazed Ham

A ham coated in a crumb‑egg glaze, baked until browned and moistened with cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Glazed Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the ham

  1. Soak and boil the ham for 20 minutes per pound.

  2. Let it cool in the water.

  3. Remove the skin neatly.

Glaze and bake

  1. Coat the ham with a paste made from cracker crumbs, milk, beaten eggs, and pepper.

  2. Bake in the oven until the glaze is browned, moistening occasionally with cream.

Garnish

  1. Wrap frilled paper around the shank and garnish with pastry.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Ham + creamtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ham
Is the main cut of meat that is cooked, glazed and served.
Cracker crumbs
Bind with the milk and eggs to form a paste that thickens the coating.
Beaten eggs
Help set the glaze paste so it holds onto the surface of the ham.
Milk
Loosens the cracker crumbs and eggs into a spreadable paste.
Cream
Keeps the glaze moist and encourages even browning while baking.

The step that matters

Bake until the glaze is browned, moistening with cream. Glaze proteins and sugars brown as they heat, but a dry surface can scorch or stay pale. Occasional cream keeps the coating moist so it browns evenly.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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