Reading between your lines, do I detect a whiff of doubt that the AoA blockage was ice of any kind/origin?
Re the recovery: just a few initial thoughts, with hindsight from my comfy armchair.
It will be interesting to see if the crew used “speedbrakes” (airbrakes), and I wonder if they would have any effect on pitch trim on the A330. (If they were splitable, like on some a/c, you could use only the outers to generate pitch-up.)
Did we agree on the AF447 thread that manual THS is physically possible in Normal Law? Some early jets like the B707 provided (yes!) automatic stabiliser-trim (up) at high Mach,to counter the nose-down effect of Mach “tuck”. So perhaps it might not be such a challenge as you are suggesting, Conf_iture?
The cure must be to reduce Mach by going down and (at least) not allowing the TAS to increase. The latter doesn’t necessitate a reduction in IAS. Selection of idle thrust aggravates the trim, malheureusement, but if the THS is available that effect can be countered. Meanwhile, in case one hasn’t enough to do already, should one consider turning out of the “airway”, as per an emergency descent?