Tiramisu

Never have I thought that one day, I'll be making this Italian dish. I'm not very fond of coffee for it gives me back pain. *Dark Shadow mode* But after my very own mascarpone cheese experiment, I decided to give Tiramisu a try. It is very easy to make, no baking is required but the ingredients are pricey-and that would be another reason why I never thought of making one before.

The taste is a lot like bahulu but it's harder and less sweet

Oh, and another good reason why I never thought of making Tiramisu before is because I never had left over yolks in the fridge.

This is my version of mascarpone cheese

This is the result using 1 pint of whipping cream

So, here's my version of Tiramisu:

4 egg yolks
3 tbs sugar
2 c mascarpone cheese

24 lady fingers
1 can of nestle mocha *the most "coffee" I can think of ><"*

Grated chocolate *I don't have cocoa powder*

Firstly, prepare a bain-marie and whisk eggs yolks and sugar until it becomes sort of like custard. Now, this custard is called zabaglione and it can be eaten just like that. I mean, with fruits or whatnot. Then let it cool.

 

When your zabaglione is has cooled, beat it with mascarpone cheese.  

 

Then, dip the lady fingers in mocha. I prefer it to be soggy but most of the recipe I googled warns us not to dip it until soggy *Perhaps I just don't have that Italiano taste bud*

Just to test whether the one I dip is soggy or not, there are some part I dipped longer.

Then pour half of the mascarpone cheese+zabaglione batter and spread evenly. Lay the lady fingers again and pour the other half batter and spread. Grate some chocolate on top but if u have cocoa powder, put cocoa powder on top instead. Chill for 8 hours but mine is only for 1 hour :P

The verdict: I should've make more mascarpone cheese! 

Mock Trial

 

Su, me & Kema for the Plaintiff

V 

Faiz, Charlie & Faizuan for the Defendant

I know this is a food blog but I can't help but to share with all of you my very own mock trial experience.

Starting with preparations, I'm so lucky to have close friends for my team. These are the friends I knew wayyy back from my law foundation programme. They know how lazy I can get, I know how immaculate Su can be and I know how aggressive Kema can be. So, any tantrums during pre-mock trial were very much understood by us.

Coming to the defendant part, we got co-operative defendants as well, thankfully! We exchange documents not only the listed ones but also cross-examination questions to make re-examination process a lot easier. We also did few rehearsals and exchange ideas even if the idea is for the defendant's side.

I have to admit, sometimes, the defendants were quite stubborn but how nice can the defendants get? I should really be thankful because they were willing to tolerate, letting us know what are their defences, how will they go from that etc. We also share with them what is our arguments the loopholes in it etc. We even let each other train each other's witnesses.

So, I actually trained two witnesses. One for my examination in chief and re-examination (Plaintiff Witness-2), and the other one for cross-examination (Defendant Witness-1).

But when the real cross examination occured, DW-1 forgot the answer for 1 of my question so I have to grilled him pretty hard at that moment in search of the answer that I wanted. But the good thing about that is the process will pretty much look natural :p

So, on the day of our trial, we did what we had planned but still they were so much that can be improved. Some of the mistakes were because we overlooked it e.g. we forgot to sign the documents! (This is the part where S73A and Allied Bank case comes in really handy! :P) most of the mistakes happened simply because we were all inexperienced and we can't even foresee them e.g how to cross an expert. What questions should we ask for effective case building etc.

For the judgement, it is in favor for us, the plaintiff. It is quite a straightforward case, a personal injury case so both sides had already expected it. But the judge still complimented the defendants because they were that good! The judge complimented all of us especially on systematic documents. Credit goes to Kema & Su for the great job! 

The moral of the story is, always be prepared. And for the purpose of mock trial, don't ever try to be smart by keeping secrets from the other side because come on people!!! the end of mock trial is the marks not the judgment. You can loose the case but your advocacy skills still shines. But if you keep on keeping secrets and worry about having nothing to say if the other side knew you argument or defence, you're wrong!

In the moot court you will be so nervous and u have only what u prepared in your hand. If the "surprise" is beyond your expectation, your dead! And even if both sides are well-prepared, don't worry, you can never be perfect. The judge is smarter and a lot wiser than us, students. The judge must have a long list waiting to be said for our own improvements.

As much as the mock trial made us all feel all lawyer-y, don't forget we are still students and we have no experience. And basically, both sides' knowledge and experience are the same because it does comes from the same sources: lectures, books interviews, training etc.

The best thing we can do is coming in fully prepared and after the mock trial, we can have new memories we can all cherished through out our lives!

Here is what we did afterwards:

Thank you everyone for helping us get through this tormenting period! This is one of the best times during my law school years :)