Muscovado Sugar and Naartjie Glazed Gammon

Gammon is like the dessert of the Christmas savoury world. It's hands-down the best part of Christmas lunch (apart from well, dessert) and I'd be happy and willing to give up every part of Christmas lunch (Turkey - bleh.) but I will pretty much have a fight to the death for gammon.  I wouldn't risk my life for just any gammon though - only my Nanna's gammon, which is simmered in ginger beer and crusted with caramelized brown sugar. If there is one recipe that really has been passed down through the generations, it's this gammon. In fact, the recipe is so special that we always make sure that at least 2 people in the family know how to make it - you know, just incase!

 I've taken a bit of creative licence with Nanna's recipe and given it an extra South African spin by adding naartjie (Clementines) but you can totally stay traditional and go with the pineapple rings. Just don't make the mistake of using fresh pineapple - it has to be the tinned stuff, otherwise it just doesn't taste the same (I've tried). Nanna always glazed her gammon with brown sugar but proper Muscovado sugar is just glorious on this - it's rich and molassesy and forms a glossy varnish that isn't just sweet and sticky but tastes good too! Now, go make sure you share this recipe with someone else in your family, you know, just incase!

Muscovado Sugar and Naartjie Glazed Gammon

Serves 12 

2kg – 3kg cured and smoked gammon, bone left in

2L ginger beer

5 naartjies (clementines), juiced and rind removed (optional)

1 onion, peeled and halved
1 celery stick
1 carrot, peeled and chopped

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf

45ml (3 tbsp) Natura Dark Muscovado Sugar

a handful cloves

Preheat the oven to 150°C. 

Place the gammon, skin-side down, in a large ovenproof roasting dish. 

Pour over 1,5L of the ginger beer, add the naartjie rind and juice from 3 of the naartjies (optional), the onion, celery, carrot, star anise, cinnamon stick and bay leaf. 

Cover the roasting dish with foil and place in the oven until the ham is tender, about 3 hours and 30 minutes. Pour off the cooking liquid and allow the gammon to cool slightly.(You could boil the ham on the stovetop too but my gammon was so huge I didn't have a pot that it would fit in!)

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the remaining ginger beer, naartjie zest and juice and the sugar until dissolved. Bring to a boil then simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C.

Lift the skin off the gammon, making sure to leave a layer of fat, then score the fat into diamond shapes. Press a clove into the tip of each diamond shape then return to the oven dish, brush with the glaze and roast in the oven until caramelised, basting every now and then until golden and glossy, about 20-30 minutes.  

COOK’S TIP

Caramelise naartjie slices in a pan with a little muscovado sugar and serve with the gammon for a local take on the traditional pineapple slices.

Muscovado Drizzle Cake with Pecan Nuts and Cream Cheese Frosting

I thought it was about time for another epic cake. There have been a few, this one, oooh and this one, and definitely this one! 

If I could, I would just create OMG cakes all day long, but then they wouldn't be special, right? And boy is this one special. See how many words are in the title? Life tip: when you see a cake with THAT many delicious things in it's name, you know it's going to be gooooooood. Just look at it... *moment of silence, please*

A cake this beautiful always has a muse and my muse for this one was real, proper Muscovado sugar. 

Dark Muscovado sugar has a more intense molasses flavour than it's Light counterpart

I've only recently discovered the world of proper unrefined sugar. Until now, I've kind of just thought that sugar is well, sugar; although it comes in different forms which can alter the texture of baked goodies it really just adds sweetness, not flavour. 

That was until I spotted a new Dark Muscovado sugar made in Mauritius by a brand called Natura Sugars. I brought it home, and ended up eating it straight out the bag, with a spoon. It is THAT good. Rich, dark, complex and dusky. 

Remember when you discovered proper dark chocolate for the first time? This is like that. The real friggin' deal. A total game-changer.

My general motto in life, is that if something tastes good on a spoon, it automatically tastes good in anything else. And this cake once again, proves my hypothesis (woah big word alert). The sugar takes it to a whole different level. 

FYI 'Muscovado' means 'unrefined' in Spanish - although in Spanish they say 'Mascabado' - and Muscovado sugar was first crafted in Latin America several centuries ago. 

 So, with my muse selected, I set out to create a cake to show off all the complex flavours of dark and light Muscovado sugar. Spices. Pecan nuts. Butter (always butter). A bit of cream cheese - okay, a lot of cream cheese,  and, of course, there had to be a Muscovado glaze; drippy cake glazes are, like, so in right now. 

Sorry, but it's hard to care about cake decorating trends when you know the cake is so delicious it's not going to last long enough to be Instagrammed! ;) 

Muscovado Cake with Pecans, Cream Cheese Frosting and Muscovado Glaze

Serves 8-10

4 large eggs

220g Natura Light Muscovado sugar

120ml buttermilk

120g butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

280g cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp salt

100g pecan nuts, finely chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting

50g Natura Dark Muscovado sugar

500g Natura Demerara Icing Sugar, sifted

100g butter, softened

250g full fat cream cheese*

Muscovado Glaze

50g Light Muscovado Sugar

50g Dark Muscovado Sugar

75g butter

125ml cream

To Serve

Crushed shortbread (I used chocolate-coated shortbread balls too)

Candied pecan nuts, crushed
Pecan praline shards (see Tip)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.

Grease and line 4 x 20cm sandwich cake tins (or use two and slice the cake in half)

In a stand mixer, whip the eggs and sugar until very light (almost white), thick and fluffy. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. 

Pour this mixture into the egg mixture.

Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and fold into the creamed mixture along with the chopped pecan nuts.

Divide the batter between the cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the sponge is golden brown on top and bounces back when pressed lightly. 

Allow the cakes to cool completely, upside down, before unmoulding. 

For the frosting, cream the butter, Muscovado and Demerara Icing sugar until light and very fluffy. Add the cream cheese and whip until very fluffy. 

To make the glaze, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until dissolved. Then bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute then set aside and allow to cool. 

Assemble the cake by layering the cake with the cream cheese frosting. To make layering easier, freeze the layers for 20-30 minutes before you begin assembling, this will make the cake more rigid and keep the frosting in place. Frost the sides of the cake, drizzle with the glaze, then decorate with pecan nuts, shortbread and extra frosting piped on top.

TIP: If you'd like to create the pecan shards, place 1 cup of light Muscovado sugar in a saucepan with 1 tbsp water and simmer until melted and caramelized. Pour over a handful of pecan nuts scattered on a greased and lined baking tray. Allow to cool completely then break into shards. I also crushed some to toss onto the side of the cake. 

*This post has been sponsored by Natura Sugars who produce a range of really special sugars that are unrefined and made according to traditional Mauritian sugar-making techniques. The sugars are non-GM, non-irradiated and unbleached with no preservatives, colourants or syrups added which basically means they are pure, natural and packed with flavour! 

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