The French Pastry Technique To Use For The Best Crinkle Top On Your Brownies

Narrowly beating out getting to lick the bowl when making a fresh batch of brownies is succeeding in getting a perfectly crinkled top after pulling them from the oven — other than maybe using Martha Stewart's brownie hack for getting the best edges. Whether you're making brownies from scratch or using a box mix, the secret to the coveted crinkly, cracked top lies in an Italian technique that was popularized in French cuisine.

Food Republic talked with chef Christopher Hensel about the ins and outs of this method. "Sabayon is a technique where eggs and sugar are whisked together over gentle heat to create a thick, airy emulsion. For brownies, this step dissolves sugar into the eggs while incorporating air, which leads to a glossy, crinkled top," explained chef Hensel.

The consistency of your sabayon should be a thinner and silkier crème anglaise or pastry cream. Sabayon is both a cooking concept (of whisking eggs with sugar to create a light-as-air emulsion, often with some kind of wine) as well as a dessert sauce recipe. This method can take about 10 minutes to get the eggs in the sabayon to a ribbon-like state. The whipping of the eggs with the sugar creates an airy structure for the brownies while the fully dissolved sugar lends the perfect viscosity for the thin, crinkled, tissue-paper-like top.

Chef Hensel did issue this warning for whipping up a sabayon: "Be careful ... overheating the egg mixture will cause the eggs to scramble. Undermixing the sabayon will not allow the sugar to fully dissolve, and the top won't develop. It's helpful to use an electric mixer, whisking on medium speed until pale thick peaks [form]."

Ideally, you don't want the temperature to exceed 175 degrees. Once removed from the heat, the eggs will continue to cook for a short time, thanks to carryover cooking. Also, make sure that you sift your flour to get a much more accurate measurement; plus, it'll prevent any clumps of flour from remaining in the batter and ruining your hard work with the sabayon. 

This technique, along with using Dutch processed cocoa like Ina Garten's favorite gourmet cocoa powder, will give you the brownies of your dreams, so good you might not want to share the pan. Couple this technique with other flavor boosters, like using instant coffee or espresso in your brownie mix to elevate the chocolate flavor. Or you can try using red wine to really punch up the flavor. Incorporate the wine into the sabayon process, which is how the sauce of the is traditionally made. You can also increase the flavor and moisture in your brownies by adding in a splash of stout beer.