Baked Ham (wrapped in bread!)

Serves 10

30 mins prep

60 mins cook

240 mins Resting Time

0 mins total

This baked ham is wrapped in German-style rye bread is so moist, tender and delicious. It's perfect to serve for Easter, Mother's Day or the holidays. While in Germany, this baked ham is a great food for Abendbrot, the German traditional evening meal, it would also make for a stunning centerpiece for a festive brunch.

What I love most about this ham experience is that the bread soaks up the warm, smoky flavor from the ham, which makes it taste just SO GOOD!

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If serving your ham for a brunch, the evening before you would like to bake your ham, make your pre-dough for the loaf by mixing some of the rye flour, water, and yeast (amounts listed with this step or under pre-dough section with the ingredients). Cover airtight and let sit overnight until you're ready to proceed with the next step 10 to 12 hours later.
If you are serving your ham for Abendbrot (the German evening meal), place the pre-dough in the fridge right after making it. The next morning, take it out and sit it on the counter with the cover still on until you're ready to continue with the next steps.

⅓ 150 water

⅓ 150 dark rye flour

⅕ 1 active-dry yeast

When ready to make your main dough, combine the yeast with the honey and water and let sit for a few minutes until bubbly. Combine with the pre-dough and other ingredients to make the bread dough. Knead until smooth, then cover the bowl airtight and let sit in a warm spot. Or use a proofer set to 90 degrees Fahrenheit or 32 degrees Celsius.
Let it rise for two hours, folding the dough up and over itself in a circular motion one hour into it. You can leave the dough in the bowl for this step and use a rubber spatula or a bowl scraper.

⅕ 3 active-dry yeast

⅕ 15 honey

⅗ 275 water

⅕ 35 balsamic vinegar

½ 250 dark rye flour

⅗ 270 all-purpose flour

⅕ 15 salt

Preheat your oven to 250° Celsius (480° Fahrenheit) and add a casserole dish filled with hot water to the bottom of your oven.

In the meantime, remove your whole ham from the fridge and trim off the fatty outer layer. Reserve for other purposes.

⅕ 1 whole smoked ham

Remove the dough from the bowl and place onto a floured surface (I use all-purpose flour for this step). Dust more flour over the dough, then roll it out large enough to fit your ham. Envelop your ham in the dough.

When I did this, I had some crevices on the bottom of my ham, where dough ended up sneaking into and not fully cooking. You can avoid this by making sure that any uneven sides are on top when baking. You can also trim off any bits and pieces to make the bottom flat. Then place the ham seam side down on a baking sheet topped with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Score the top of the dough in a repeated diamond pattern (see pictures and video). You can use a sharp knife or a bread lame for this step.

Check to make sure there is still plenty of hot water in your casserole dish. If needed, add more. Transfer your dough-wrapped ham quickly to the hot, steamy oven and bake for a total of 60 minutes (important: reduce the temperature to 220° C/ 430° F 10 minutes into baking).

While baking, make the horseradish cream sauce and let it rest in the fridge until you're ready to eat. This helps the flavors develop, too. Feel free to add more horseradish if desired.

⅕ 100 sour cream

⅕ 100 Greek yogurt

⅕ 2 cream cheese

⅕ 80 prepared horseradish

⅕ 2 finely chopped chives

⅕ ½ chili powder

salt and pepper

Remove the ham from the oven, transfer it to a cooling rack, and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

While slicing with a bread knife works okay, slicing with a bread slicer works amazing! I love this manual slicer and the German-made blade can be removed to clean it.

You can also cut the ham in half, remove the ham from the bread pockets, slice the ham, and then cut the bread into pieces and slice it separately. The bread is so delicious after letting the ham bake in it. This is so worth it and makes for an amazing centerpiece.

Serve and eat immediately. I love serving this ham with some German pickles (Schaller and Weber just started carrying famous German pickles from the Spreewald), deviled eggs (gefüllte Eier), a couple of great cheeses, and some snacking veggies. Guten Appetit!