Oh man, now you've got me wondering. So, I've been making a brownie with the shiny top for a million years now, but the method is a little different. The recipe originally came from a well-known former caterer from the Hamptons (cough, cough), and it produces a very dense brownie.

All the chocolate from the recipe (save for a bag of chips that are stirred in at the end) is melted in a bain-marie with all the butter. So, I personally use unsweetened Callebaut + semi-sweet Guittard. Well over a pound in all. The butter is a pound of high-fat European (salted) butter, as well. That's cooled for however long it takes me to mise en place everything else. The sugar - of which I use the bare minimum, so scant 1.75c - is added to a bowl with the wets, including 6 extra large eggs, and the chocolate mixture - still a smidge warm - is stirred into the wet bowl. The drys are slowly incorporated and the rest of the chips are folded in.

The shiny top is always there, when I use the same ingredients in the same proportions. When I was tinkering - say, too few eggs, too little sugar - that top wasn't there.

I'd have to go through all of my notes from my time in culinary school ages ago + deep dive the internet, but I'm leaning towards the eggs and the fat from the chocolate and the butter interacting, with the sugar lending an additional something? The butter adds a glossiness to the chocolate, the eggs and sugar help with structure. There's about a cup of flour, which I'm sure is relevant, too.

But, also, I think that's generally just how brownies are supposed to be, right? You're not making a cake, you're not making a souffle, you're not making biscotti. A good, balanced recipe for a brownie will generally create that top, at least in my experience.

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