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 any holiday. In Germany, this baked ham is a great and appropriate food for Abendbrot, the German traditional evening meal. But it would also make a stunning centerpiece for a festive brunch. What I love most about this baked ham is that the bread soaks up the warm, smoky flavor from the ham, which makes it taste just SO GOOD!
I like serving this ham with a delicious and simple horseradish sauce and German-style deviled eggs for a unique twist on the Abendbrot experience.
This German recipe only cooks the bread portion surrounding the ham, but barely warms the middle. And that is intentional. Since the ham is fully cooked, it's safe to eat even without ever cooking it again.
The ham baked in bread is best served right after coming out of the oven (after a brief resting period). Otherwise, the bottom portion of the bread tends to get soggy from the ham's juices. The bread portion can be prepared ahead of time.
Ingredients
The ham is the most important part of this recipe, but since you will be making the bread as well, let's talk about all the ingredients that go into this German-style ham meal.
- Ham. Typically you will use a lean ham or trim a ham to be lean. Normally the layer of ham fat helps the ham to not lose much moisture, but the bread barrier will take care of this step for you instead. So cut off the fat, or else the ham grease will soak into your bread. I love using Schaller & Weber's Swedish brand smoked party ham. It is full of flavor and a giant! But after trimming off the fat (you can use it for other cooking), it is more manageable and the bread dough wraps around it beautifully.
- Dark rye flour. For the dough portion to be wrapped around the ham, you will use a mixture of flour, including dark rye flour. I love this brand as it brings incredible old-world flavor. Keep it in the fridge unless you bake it often. Whole grain flours go rancid faster than white, refined flour. The amount of rye flour is more than the amount of wheat flour, giving the bread a distinct malty note.
- All-purpose flour. I buy all-purpose flour in bulk because I bake so much. I love the Costco organic all-purpose flour for its higher-than-average protein and gluten content.
- Yeast. I use dry-active yeast for all of my baking recipes.
- Honey. The honey is used to activate the yeast and give the bread a balanced flavor. If you don't have honey, feel free to use sugar or maple syrup instead.
- Balsamic vinegar. I use balsamic vinegar in the rye bread recipe, as it adds a nice touch of complex flavor.
How to make it
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. 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.
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 (I love this 3-piece dough tool set).
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.
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 (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.
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!
Do I have to heat the ham to a certain temperature?
If your ham is fully cooked (such as the smoked ham I used), then you do not need to heat the ham before eating. The ham cooked in this recipe is just slightly warm and it is served immediately after baking (after a short resting period) to prevent the ham juices from soaking it.
More German ham recipes
If you loved this ham recipe, I know you will also love my ham and white asparagus crêpes, my baked Toast Hawaii with ham, and my German-inspired ham and cheese sliders.
Baked Ham (wrapped in bread!)
Equipment
- 1 dough tools optional, LOVE this 3-piece dough tools set!
- 1 bread knife I own this bread knife and love it!
- 1 carving knife I own this carving knife set and love it!
- 1 bread slicer slices through the bread and ham, so handy and I absolutely love it!
Ingredients
Pre-Dough
- 150 milliliters water
- 150 milliliters dark rye flour For the dough portion to be wrapped around the ham, you will use a mixture of flour, including dark rye flour. I love this brand as it brings incredible old-world flavor. Keep it in the fridge unless you bake often. Whole grain flours go rancid faster than white, refined flour. The amount of rye flour is more than the amount of wheat flour, giving the bread a distinct malty note.
- 1 gram active-dry yeast Just a little pinch. I use dry-active yeast for all of my yeast dough baking recipes as it is closer to German yeast.
Main Dough
- 3 grams active-dry yeast Half of a little pouch.
- 15 grams honey The honey is used to activate the yeast and give the bread a balanced flavor. If you don't have honey, feel free to use sugar or maple syrup instead.
- 275 milliliters water
- 35 grams balsamic vinegar I use balsamic vinegar in the rye bread recipe, as it adds a nice touch of complex flavor.
- 250 grams dark rye flour
- 270 grams all-purpose flour I buy all-purpose flour in bulk because I bake so much. I love the Costco organic all-purpose flour for its higher than average protein and gluten content.
- 15 grams salt
Ham
- 1 whole smoked ham Any size works and mine was quite large (8 pounds including a couple of pounds of fat I trimmed off. Typically you will use a lean ham or trim a ham to be lean. This is so all the ham grease does not soak into your bread. I love using Schaller & Weber's Swedish brand smoked party ham. It is full of flavor and a giant! After trimming off the fat (you can use it for other cooking), it is more manageable and the bread dough wraps around it beautifully.
Horseradish Cream Sauce
- 100 grams sour cream I use full fat sour cream, but you can go lower
- 100 grams Greek yogurt I use thick-strained Greek yogurt by the Fage brand
- 2 Tablespoons cream cheese
- 80 grams prepared horseradish If using fresh horseradish, use half of the amount given in this recipe.
- 2 Tablespoons finely chopped chives
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- 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.150 milliliters water, 150 milliliters dark rye flour, 1 gram 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.3 grams active-dry yeast, 15 grams honey, 275 milliliters water, 35 grams balsamic vinegar, 250 grams dark rye flour, 270 grams all-purpose flour, 15 grams 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.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.100 grams sour cream, 100 grams Greek yogurt, 2 Tablespoons cream cheese, 80 grams prepared horseradish, 2 Tablespoons finely chopped chives, ½ teaspoon 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!
dirndlkitchen
This bread-wrapped baked ham is such a fun twist on the traditional baked ham and I hope you will love it as much as we do! If you try it, please let me know in the comments below!