Joel Robuchon

Souffle Chartreuse

Here are the puddings we'll be attempting this Christmas, ranging from Ferran Adrià's unbelievably simple apricots and ice cream to Alain Ducasse's fruit compote accompanied by stale bread. These are just some of the wide range of recipes donated by the world's top chefs to The Crisis Cook Book to raise money for the homeless. There are soufflés from Mark Hix, chef-director of the Caprice group, and Joël Robuchon, the man with the most Michelin stars in the world. Our own St John's Fergus Henderson, and Rick Stein give their versions of traditional treacle puds, and for cake-lovers Shaun Hill has a rich chocolate cake and Alice Waters a cranberry upside-down cake from California.

Serves 2

3 eggs, separated

75g caster sugar

25g ricotta

40g 0% fat fromage frais

1 soup spoon of Chartreuse

10g butter, softened

pistachio ice cream, to serve

Put the egg yolks and 25g of sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale. Incorporate the ricotta and the fromage frais and place this mixture in the fridge for 2 hours.

Heat your oven to 220°C/gas 7. Place the egg whites with the remaining sugar in another bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Fold together the yolk and cheese mixture and the meringue mixture. Add the Chartreuse.

Coat the insides of two ramekins with the butter and spoon in the soufflé mixture evenly. Place the ramekins in the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes. Take them out of the oven, gently open the top of the soufflés with a spoon and add a scoop of pistachio ice cream.

Ferran Adrià

Apricots with ice cream

Serves 8

4 apricots

4 strands of saffron

1 vanilla pod, split

1 lemongrass stalk

1 tbs honey

½ litre vanilla ice cream

Remove the stones from the apricots. Place the apricots on silver foil and scatter with the saffron, seeds from the vanilla pod, the lemongrass sliced into thin rounds and the honey. Seal the foil like an envelope and cook under the grill or in the oven. Plate the apricots and serve with a little of the cooking juices and the ice cream.

Heston Blumethal

Pears poached in red wine

These pears are always best made a day or two in advance. If they are eaten too soon, the poaching liquid will only have penetrated into some of the flesh, the centre part still being white.

If you do not have any crème de cassis, substitute it with the same amount of blackcurrant syrup or, failing that, add an extra 100g of sugar to the liquid. As regards the wine, remember the saying, 'If it is not good enough to drink, do not cook with it'. The ginger and liquorice are optional. If you are using liquorice, make sure that it is the root not the confectionery. If the poaching liquid is a little thin, simply thicken it with a little cornflour.

You have a choice when preparing the pears; personally, I think that they look nicer left whole, however, they are slightly more fiddly to prepare. If you haven't got the inclination to do this, you can just cut them in half. You will need a casserole large enough to fit the pears in one layer.

Serves 4-8

8-10 ripe and unblemished pears (allow 1-2 pears per person depending on their size)

1 bottle red wine

200ml crème de cassis or blackcurrant syrup

200g sugar (300g if neither of the above)

1 cinnamon stick

6 cloves

1 star anise

20g ginger root

2 liquorice sticks

zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon

Bring the wine to a boil, flame it to reduce some of its acidity and add all the other ingredients.

Meanwhile prepare the pears. Peel them whether you will be halving them or not. If keeping them whole, you will need to remove the core so that they will cook evenly the whole way through. To do this, insert the tip of a normal peeler into the base of the pear, just on the edge of the core, push it into the fruit and turning the peeler around the core, cut it out. If halving the pears, do so lengthways and again, use the tip of the peeler to cut out the root and the core.

The liquid will have cooled down a little. Place the pears side by side and top with a disk of greaseproof paper, the diameter of the pan, with holes pierced in it. Press down slightly so that some of the poaching liquid comes through the holes made in the paper, keeping the pears submerged during the cooking. If the liquid does not cover the pears, add a little water until it does.

Place the casserole back on the heat and bring the liquid to a simmer. As soon as this happens, turn the heat down and cook at a very gentle simmer, just enough to form the odd bubble on the surface of the water.

Cook until the pears are done; you can test this by inserting a small pointed knife into the flesh. If it goes in with little resistance, they are ready. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool. When cold, carefully transfer the fruit to a sealable container. If you have added some extra water now reduce the liquid to the required consistency and taste.

Pour the liquid over the pears in their container and store in the fridge for at least one day. The pears will keep for a week in the poaching liquid. Serve hot or cold and adjust the consistency of the liquid as required.

Fergus Henderson

Baked treacle pudding

Serves 4

100g unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 small knobs of butter

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

100g self-raising flour

grated zest of 1 lemon

a pinch of sea salt

6 tbs golden syrup (can be replaced by jam with equally joyous results)

To start, take one of your knobs of butter and grease a 500ml pudding basin. For the sponge mixture, cream the 100g butter and sugar with a spoon then add one of the eggs. Mix it in gently with 1 dessertspoon of flour, to prevent the mixture from curdling, then follow with the other egg.

Once the eggs, butter and sugar are melded, add the lemon zest and fold in the rest of the flour and salt. Pour the golden syrup (or jam) into the pudding basin and then spoon the sponge mixture on top of this.

Cover the basin with buttered tinfoil (use knob number two), including a tuck to allow for the expansion of the sponge, then bake in a medium-hot oven for 35-40 minutes. It is done when you can stick a skewer in and pull it out clean. When cooked, turn it out onto a warmed dish deep enough for the escaping golden syrup (do not worry, this will work).

Serve straight away with lots of cream to hand.

Shaun Hill

Chocolate cake

Points to watch: the chocolate must be melted gently and slowly. It can be grated so that it melts faster if time is important.

There is very little flour - no wheat flour at all - so there may be a tendency for the cake to sag in the middle if not completely cooked through. This is not a huge problem if it happens as there will be no flour to taste raw and uncooked in the finished dish. At worst it will be gooey and fondant. In fact, better undercooked than overcooked.

Vanilla extract or a natural essence from Madagascar are fine. Anything else isn't.

Serves 6-8

225g plain chocolate, broken into pieces

100g unsalted butter

4 eggs, separated into yolks and whites

225g icing sugar

a few drops of vanilla extract

2 tbs cornflour

Melt the chocolate and butter together. The best way to do this is to put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and stand the bowl in warm water, stirring occasionally.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Make sure to use a clean bowl and whisk.

Separately, whisk the yolks, icing sugar and vanilla extract together then add the cornflour. Whisk until the colour of the mixture lightens perceptibly.

Add the melted chocolate and butter. Next, add the whisked egg white, folding it in a third at a time.

Line an 18cm cake tin with parchment paper and pour in the cake batter. Bake in a hot oven - 190°C/gas 5 - until done, around 30-40 minutes.

Alain Ducasse

Brioche slices with fruit compote

Serves 4

8 slices stale brioche

2 apples

2 pears

50g raisins

200g sugar

100g butter

1 vanilla pod, cut widthways into two

50cl milk

2 eggs

Peel the apples and pears and cut into large cubes. Wash the raisins. Preheat the oven to 140°C/gas 4.

Put half the sugar into a small, round casserole with 2 dessertspoons of water. Cook until it turns to a light caramel.

Stop the caramel cooking by adding 50g butter. Add the fruit and the raisins. Split one of the vanilla pod halves into two and grate one half over the fruit. Add the second half. Put in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. The fruit should be soft but retain its shape. Add a little water if necessary.

Bring the milk to the boil with 20g sugar and the other half of the vanilla pod, split. Remove from the heat. Infuse until the milk is completely cold.

Beat the eggs with 80g sugar. Dip the brioche slices into the milk, then into the beaten egg. Melt 50g butter in a non-stick frying pan. Once it starts to bubble, brown the brioche slices lightly on both sides. Serve warm with the fruit on the side.

Vary the fruit according to the season. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Mark Hix

Christmas pudding soufflÉ

Serves 8

For the filling:

50g double cream

70g dark chocolate, chopped

20ml Drambuie

50g mincemeat

For the soufflé:

1 ready-made sponge cake

300g butter

300g white chocolate

10g baking powder

¼ tsp mixed spice

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

240g flour

5 eggs, separated

90g caster sugar

30g dried mixed fruits, soaked in hot water

Butter and caster sugar, for dusting the rings

To make the filling, bring the cream to the boil, remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate till melted. Stir in the Drambuie and mincemeat and leave to cool. When cool, mould into rough even-sized balls.

Lightly butter and dust with caster sugar the inside of eight 8cm stainless steel rings, or deep egg-poaching rings. Cut eight discs of sponge 8cm wide and 0.5 cm thick and place them inside the rings on a buttered baking sheet, 6-7 cm apart. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5.

To make the soufflé, Melt the butter and white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Meanwhile, sift together the baking powder, spices and flour. Mix the egg yolks into the chocolate, then gently fold in the sieved flour mixture. Whisk the egg whites and sugar until stiff and then fold into the mix.

Half-fill the moulds and then add a ball of the filling and top up with the rest of the mixture. Bake the soufflés for 10-12 minutes, remove from the oven, loosen with a knife and carefully put onto warmed serving plates with a spatula. Top with the dried fruit and serve with pouring cream or as they are, as the filling acts as a sauce.

Alice Waters

Cranberry upside-down cake

This cake is very versatile and can be made with apples, pears, peaches, plums or any full-flavoured, slightly acidic fruit.

Makes one 2cm round cake or one 20cm square cake

55g unsalted butter

150g brown sugar

250g fresh cranberries

60ml orange juice

2 eggs, separated, at room temperature

120ml whole milk, at room temperature

175g unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp of salt

110g unsalted butter, softened

200g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Put the butter and sugar into a heavy based pan or heavy-duty cake pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter melts and starts to bubble. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Heat the cranberries and orange juice in a small saucepan and cook until the cranberries just start to pop. Remove from the heat and pour evenly over the cooled caramel.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the egg yolks one at a time and stir in the vanilla.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and add to the egg mixture alternately with the milk, starting and ending with one-third of the flour. Stir just until the flour is incorporated.

Whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter and then gently fold in the rest. Pour the batter over the cranberries in the pan and smooth over with a spatula.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan.Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate.

Rick Stein

Steamed treacle sponge with butterscotch sauce and custard

Serves 8

175g softened butter, extra for greasing

175g light muscovado sugar

1 tbs black treacle

3 large eggs

175g self-raising flour

For the butterscotch sauce:

50g butter

75g light muscovado sugar

25g demerara sugar

150g golden syrup

150ml double cream

For the custard:

1 vanilla pod

600ml full cream milk

4 egg yolks

3 tbsp caster sugar

4 tsp cornflour

Generously grease a 1.2 litre pudding basin with some butter. Cream the butter in a bowl until light and creamy. Add the muscovado sugar and beat vigorously until the mixture is pale and fluffy, then beat in the black treacle.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a large spoonful of the flour with the last egg, and then gently fold in the rest of the flour.

Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin and lightly level the top of the mixture. Cover the bowl with a pleated sheet of buttered foil and tie in place with string.

Bring a 5cm depth of water to the boil in a large pan containing some sort of shallow trivet in the base. Add the pudding, cover and steam for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the butterscotch sauce. Put the butter, muscovado and Demerara sugars and golden syrup into a pan and leave over a low heat, stirring now and then, until the sugars have dissolved. Stir in the double cream and keep warm.

For the custard, slit open the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a sharp knife. Put the milk, vanilla pod and seeds into a non-stick pan and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for 20 minutes or so to allow the flavour of the vanilla to infuse the milk. Cream the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together in a bowl until smooth. Bring the milk back to the boil, remove the vanilla pod and gradually beat the milk into the egg yolk mixture. Return to the pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly until the custard thickens, but don't let the mixture boil.

To serve, uncover the pudding and run a knife around the edge of the basin. Cover with an inverted plate and turn it out. Pour over some of the hot butterscotch sauce and serve cut into wedges with the custard and the rest of the sauce. OFM

The Crisis Cook Book costs £5 (available at M&S, amazon.co.uk.) Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people. It campaigns and delivers services year-round to help people find a route out of homelessness and rebuild their lives. There are an estimated 400,000 hidden homeless in Britain. For more information call 0844 251 0111 or go to crisis.org.uk. To make a donation call 0800 038 48 38 or go to crisis.org.uk/donate. To volunteer call 020 7426 3872 or email volunteering@crisis.co.uk.

· On our food blog: See Fergus Henderson's recipe tested on video here and get wine recommendations to go with each pudding here