The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Wednesday, March 7

Hi, folks!

I’m probably about to be snowed again! Anyway, here’s a dessert hot take.

Ramble of the Day

I had cake last night to celebrate my older sister’s birthday yesterday. This is a good thing because cake is one of the greatest joys in life, and I had gone too long without eating cake.

The cake I had with my sister was the second slice of cake she had yesterday, the first with some colleagues. (It is her birthday, after all. She can eat as much cake as she wants.) Anyway, I asked her what type of cake she had at the office; she said, “chocolate with strawberries.” Next question: On the cake or in the cake? The answer horrified me. “Both.”

She said the cake tasted fine (maybe good? I do not feel like asking her again, but I think she liked it), but we, in general, have a no fruit in the cake rule. It tends to make the actual cake soggy, and therefore not worth eating. (For what it’s worth, we had a layered vanilla and chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and a chocolate ganache. Sounds like a lot, but it was rather light, and delicious, of course.)

I am not just a vanilla-and-chocolate kind of person when it comes to cake, though. Coffee in my desserts is always welcome, and I do not mind fruit on top of the cake. I have found raspberry to be a good fruit to use in types of chocolate cakes, for example. I also enjoy carrot cake and cheesecake, though I tend to be a bit pickier about the qualities of individual slices of those particular cakes.

I will leave it there, but be warned: if you say that you do not like cake in the comments, I will be sad for you.

Links of the Day

Mauricio Pochettino called himself “a dreamer,” and other things he said at his pre-Juventus press conference.

Mario Mandžukić has been left out of the Juventus squad ahead of today’s Champions League match against Tottenham.

There’s another David Squires cartoon, and VAR at the World Cup is his latest topic.

Today’s longer read: Mina Rzouki on the man formerly described as an anchovy, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, for the BBC