Despite what the K.A bakers have found while the chips add more sugar and IMO more critically the fat solids it is the sugar, its ratio but especially how well it is disolved into solution (the water (from egg white)and butter in this case) Be sure the eggs are at the top end of room temp. A few dunks in bowl of hot water out of the tap. Your just trying to get their temp up enough to be warm but not cook in any way. Like 90°F. Be sure the butter mixture is good and warm when added. The better the eggs whites are beaten the better as well. There are numerous other food science focused baking sites/blogs that consistently have got results from tests and confirmed the shiny cracked top is from a thin sugar crust that rises and is directly related to how well the sugar is disolved in solution. They have even been able to use these results to effect the tops of cookies giving them a very cracked top with a sheen i.e. chocolate chip cookies.

Remember disolved so there is no crystals at all so if it was water you would have a clear solution. Its harder in egg or butter as the cloudiness from incompletely dissolution leaving a partial suspension of the sugar crystals . You do not want any of the sugar in suspension.

I think this is the step where many home bakers are getting irratic rsults. Sometimes shiny and cracked others smoother and dull from seemingly the same recipe and procedures

I think the chips in this recipe adds just enough extra cacao butter (fat it helps push (displace the water sugar )) to the top. They are usingbquality chips with high fat. But this does not remove the importances of getting sugar disolved into solution. The key there is temp and mixing.

• Reply