The Egg Technique Julia Child Used For Fudgy Brownies

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Legendary chef Julia Child's cooking tips are still some of the best, from embracing rich ingredients to cleaning as you go. The famous cookbook author and television personality certainly knew what she was doing in the kitchen, so we'd be remiss not to take her advice for achieving fudgier brownies: Aerating the eggs. 

It should be noted that this technique is only for those who are fans of fudgy brownies (as opposed to cakey). Brownies with a cakey texture (versus fudgy) are light and fluffy; while you might think adding air to the eggs in your brownies would result in cakier brownies, this isn't the case. Child's fudgy brownies — from her book "Baking with Julia" — are baked just so to create a velvety, gooey texture that melts in your mouth. These brownies are for lovers of rich, indulgent brownies with almost creamy centers.

When the host of "The French Chef" made brownies, she would use a mixer to whip half of the eggs and sugar until the sugar was dissolved and the eggs were light and fluffy. This process of pumping air into the eggs makes them swell in size, resulting in brownies with gooey, fudgy centers. It doesn't matter whether you use a hand mixer or one of the best stand mixers; both get the job done. 

You know you did this right if your mixture reaches what is known as the "ribbon stage." Basically, if you pull your whisk away from the batter momentarily and drizzle some of what's on the whisk back into the rest of the batter, a ribbon should form atop it and remain for several seconds. To ensure the eggs stay light and fluffy, fold the egg mixture gently into the chocolate mixture before adding the flour to combine without overmixing. The air bubbles diminish if you mix too much.