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All this month, we're cracking open Quirk Throws You 5 Awesome Parties for how-tos to help your holiday party be The Greatest. This week, Holiday Cake Pops are on the menu. (This recipe can also be found in Sprinkles!) These silver and gold cake pops not only add a festive shimmer to your shindig, but they make perfectly sweet finger food to munch on while mingling!

Recently, Pizza Hut announced the revival of their classic program from the 80s and 90s: Book It! A program from October through March, Pizza Hut worked with local schools to encourage children to read, in exchange for personal pizzas and other rewards. Sounds pretty much amazing, right?

And while I’m sure it will carry over for the kids of this generation, I grew curious about what sort of rewards adults would get, the adults who grew up with Book It originally. It got me thinking.

So below, here are some of the pizzas and prizes adults should get for reading adult fiction!

Pizza via Trip Advisor

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: A classic in every sense of the word. This pizza would be a pepperoni pizza cooked to crispy perfection, to complement Elizabeth Bennett’s spicy, saucy, yet dignified take downs of that stubborn, brooding Mr. Darcy. If you’re looking for a classic with a hidden twist, read Jane Eyre for a chance at cheesy crust; totally in line with hiding something at the top of the house, so to say.

Pizza via My Recipes

Moby Dick by Herman Melville: Once you’ve finished with this whale of a tale, hop on down for a cheese pizza with a topping of anchovies, to remind you of the cunning white whale you just hunted. Just because the book is a soggy, awful look at man’s obsessive nature, doesn’t mean your own pizza can’t be fun! If you read it within a week, you get a free whale blubber lamp as a bonus prize.

Pizza via Sodahead

Any Book Written by Toni Morrison: Toni Morrison is an amazing writer, one of the best in the last one hundred years of literature, and I can guarantee that every one of her books will leave you a sobbing mess. For this pizza, you get every topping you want, smothered in feel-good ranch and hot sauce, the perfect pizza to sit on your couch, wrapped in a blanket, sobbing, trying to process your feelings. If that isn’t enough, throw in a box of dessert cinnamon sticks.

Photo via My Recipes

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: Cheese. Sauce. Crust. You want more? Read a different book, kid. Hemingway is a minimalist with an attitude. Hell, you’ll be lucky to even get cheese on that pizza. Y’know what? Screw it, let’s make it a margarita pizza with sauce, bread and basil. That’s all you get. The basil is still a stretch but even Hemingway didn’t hate flavor that much.

Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon: This pizza goes for Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and Ulysses by James Joyce. If you manage to finish any one of these three books, then guess what? Full pizza buffet. I won’t even stop you from getting thirds or fourths. Because getting through these massive tomes of literary achievement grants you full immunity, and total permission to raid the Pizza Hut buffet. Hell, I’ll find a cold six-pack for you somewhere, because if you finish any of these, and are still conscious, then you deserve it, cowboy.

So get out there and read, friends! Get your kids to read, your nieces and nephews, your students. Because reading is amazing and worthwhile and takes you to other worlds, where you can learn more about yourself and life at the same time.

And when you get back from those worlds, pizza awaits.

What’s not to love about that?

Excerpted from our Making Dough cookbook by Russell van Kraayenburg. 

YIELD: 6 shortcakes  |  PREP TIME: 1 hour  |  BAKE TIME: 12 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound prepared Biscuit Dough

1 cup heavy cream

5 sprigs fresh mint

4 ounces granulated sugar, divided

12 ounces blackberries, pureed, plus 12 ounces whole berries

1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

½ teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut biscuits and bake according to the instructions on page 28, about 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Set aside.

2. Heat heavy cream and mint sprigs in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, until cream reaches the scalding point (180°F on a clipped-on thermometer); it will begin to steam and appear slightly frothy. Transfer to the refrigerator and let steep for 1 hour, until cold.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the blackberry sauce: bring pureed blackberries, half of the sugar, chopped mint, lemon juice, and vanilla to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat slightly to maintain boil and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, until thickened. Strain liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; discard any blackberry seeds. Set aside to cool.

4. Strain steeped cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl; discard mint leaves. Whip cream with an electric mixer on high speed while slowly adding the remaining sugar, until stiff peaks form. Note: This will take longer than normal whipped cream, up to 10 minutes, because of the oils from the mint leaves. Set aside in the refrigerator.

5. Assemble the shortcakes: Cut biscuits in half to create two rounds. Cover each bottom half with blackberries and blackberry sauce. Top with the top halves. Spoon whipped cream on top and drizzle with a little more blackberry sauce before serving.

Excerpted from our Making Dough Cookbook by Russell van Kraayenburg.

YIELD: 1 pound  |  PREP TIME: 20 minutes  |  BAKE TIME: 12 minutes

Ingredients

6 ounces cake flour

2 ounces bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

Mixing the Dough

There are two ways to mix biscuit dough: by hand or using a food processor.

By-Hand Method

1. Mix flours, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.

2. Chop butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Add to flour mixture.

3. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, pinch or cut butter into flour, breaking it into pieces about the size of coarse cornmeal. If using your hands, work quickly to prevent butter from melting.

4. Add milk and stir 10 to 20 times with a wooden spoon, until dough just begins to come together.

5. Place dough on a very lightly floured surface. Knead 4 to 5 times, until it just holds its shape. Take care not to knead the dough too much or add.

Food Processor Method

1. Pulse flours, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor to combine.

2. Chop butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Add to flour mixture. Pulse for 1 to 2 seconds 8 to 12 times, until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

3. Add milk and pulse 2 to 4 times, until dough begins to come together. It will form a few large chunks and many small ones.

4. Transfer dough chunks to a very lightly floured surface and push together. Knead 3 to 5 times, until dough just holds its shape. Take care not to knead the dough too much or add too much flour, which can make the biscuits tough.

Why Cake Flour?

The American South enjoys a growing season that is relatively long and free of harshly cold weather, so less hardy varieties of wheat can be grown there. The resulting flour has a lower protein content, which is responsible for the cakey biscuits associated with that region. The similarly low protein content in cake flour will consistently produce these classic soft biscuits.

How to Handle Leftover Dough

When using a cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out round biscuits, you’ll inevitably have leftover dough. Instead of kneading the leftover pieces together before rerolling the dough, stack them in layers and then roll the stack. Every time you knead or roll dough, it will become tougher. Stacking it helps delay the toughening.

Storage

Bake immediately, or store in an airtight container. Refrigerator: 2 days. Freezer: 1 month.

Qualities of Good Biscuit Dough

THE DOUGH: Biscuit dough should be dry but easy to manipulate. You should also see small dots of butter throughout the dough.

THE PASTRY: Once baked, biscuits should be tender. The outside crust should be firm and crumble easily, and the crumb inside should be soft.

Adding Mix-Ins

Throwing in some mix-ins—such as herbs or spices, lemon zest, a small pile of cheese, or a big pile of bacon—is a snap. Biscuit dough can handle it! So long as your add-ins are dry, they won’t affect the dough ratio.

Making Classic Butter Biscuits

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 425°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll prepared dough with a rolling pin until ¾ inch thick. Cut out 2½-inch disks with a cookie or biscuit cutter, or simply pull off small handfuls of dough for a more rustic look. Stack pieces of leftover dough, roll dough again, and cut out more disks. Repeat until all the dough is used. Place biscuits on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet spaced at least 1 inch apart. Brush tops with melted butter. Bake for 12 minutes, until tops are just golden. Let biscuits cool on the pan

for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack. Serve warm.

Excerpted from our Making Dough cookbook by Russell van Kraayenburg.

YIELD: 6 biscuits  |  PREP TIME: 30 minutes  |  BAKE TIME: 12 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound Biscuit Dough, prepared as at left

3 ounces cold, chopped duck fat

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter

½  small white onion, sliced

1 ounce all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, diced

2 teaspoons chives, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Prepare biscuits as described, but replace butter with duck fat. Bake as instructed.

2. While biscuits bake, make the gravy: melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes, until translucent. Reduce heat to low and add flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes so that the flour flavor cooks out.

3. Pour in milk while stirring. Increase heat to medium and bring mixture to a boil. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until thick. Remove from heat and add salt, pepper, tarragon, and chives.

4. Serve biscuits with warm gravy.

Variation

Bacon Fat Biscuits

Using a different fat can dramatically affect the flavor of a biscuit. See for yourself: Substitute bacon fat for the duck fat and omit the chives and tarragon. This variation makes a more traditional biscuits and gravy dish.

Excerpted from our Making Dough cookbook from Russell van Kraayenburg.

YIELD: 1 (9-inch) closed pie  |  PREP TIME: 30 minutes  |  BAKE TIME: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 pounds prepared Pie Dough (double the recipe on page 50)

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

6 pounds Pink Lady apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each

3 ounces granulated sugar

3 ounces brown sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1 ounce (¼ cup) cornstarch

1 egg, beaten (egg wash)

Directions

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Divide prepared pie dough into 2 (1-inch-thick) disks, wrap tightly in parchment paper, and refrigerate. Heat butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add apples and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add sugars, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and salt. Stir until evenly mixed. Cook for another 10 minutes, until apples are soft and juices begin to thicken.

2. Mix 1/2 cup water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir into apple mixture. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until filling comes to a boil and thickens. Cook, stirring constantly, for another 30 seconds. Set aside.

3. Place one dough disk on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a circle about 14 inches in diameter. Transfer dough to a 9-inch pie dish and press into the bottom of the dish, taking care not to let dough stretch. Lightly press dough down around the edges of the dish and cut off any excess. Pour in filling, creating a mound in the center. Set aside.

4. Place second disk of dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a circle about 14 inches in diameter and place on top of pie dish. Press edges to seal pie shut. Cut 4 tear-drop holes in the center of the pie to let steam escape during cooking. Cut excess dough from edges. Create a rope edge (see page 54). Lightly brush dough with egg wash. Bake for about 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack before serving.