Giada De Laurentiis' Iced Brownies Test Didn't Go As Expected

If you haven't heard of the iced brownies trend, let's break it down — and no, it doesn't involve brownies frosted with chocolate icing, as decadent as those can be. Instead, one of the newest viral TikTok recipes promises you something even more indulgent and definitely more intensely chocolaty. If done right, this little twist on a traditional dessert promises to turn your store bought brownie mix into a gorgeous pan of rich, dense, fudgy goodness. It can even upgrade your go-to brownie recipe with just one extra step.

According to New York Times Cooking, citing a famous method by cookbook author Alice Medrich, you prepare your brownies as you normally would. But when you pull the pan out of the oven, you'll cool the whole thing in a larger pan filled with ice water instead of on the counter. Be careful to ensure that the brownies float and don't come in contact with the liquid, and keep them there until they've completely cooled. This technique, which apparently "concentrates" the richness of your brownies, certainly sounds like an easy way to ramp up your favorite boxed dessert. However, like so many internet trends, it doesn't always work out as promised, as Giada De Laurentiis found out.

In a recent TikTok post, Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis gave the iced brownie trend a try — and, boy, was she excited about it. Sadly, her longtime partner, Shane Farley, wasn't so convinced. After excitedly explaining the premise, waiting for the brownies to cook and then cool in the ice bath, and even preparing a control batch of brownies (cooled the conventional way for comparison), De Laurentiis presented the two types of brownies to Farley. It took him a moment (set to a soundtrack reminiscent of the "Jeopardy" waiting music) to understand the concept before unveiling his ultimate decision.

When asked to pick which one tasted more chocolaty between the ice bath brownie and the clearly labeled "regular" brownie, Farley said that one was "clearly better," hilariously pointing to the standard, straight-from-the-boxed-mix regular brownie, leaving De Laurentiis doubled over laughing. So, if you want to know whether the iced brownie method really creates a "truffle"-like brownie, as De Laurentiis termed it in her explanation, you'll have to try this test for yourself. You can even double up on hacks with this unexpected ingredient you need to add to brownies for an even better baseline dessert for your research.