We love this recipe for its bold flavors and incredible simplicity. While we totally love holiday desserts like tortes and cakes and cookies and pies, these things take time to bake and, at least for us, tend to make an enormous mess out of the kitchen. This delicious dessert has four readily available ingredients, six if you count the mint garnish and black pepper (which is a must!), and it can be whipped up beforehand in about 15 minutes.

Americans typically use balsamic vinegar in salad dressings. This recipe reminds us of its original and traditional Italian uses as a drizzle on Parmigiano-Reggiano and mortadella in an antipasto or used sparingly to enhance steaks, eggs or grilled fish, as well as on fresh fruit such as strawberries and pears and on plain crema (custard), gelato or even as a digestif to be drunk from a tiny glass to conclude a meal.

The artist who created this illustrated recipe, Irena Inumaru, tells us, "I think it is a perfect light dessert after a roast or a big, heavy holiday dinner." Irena's simple and pretty art style jives so nicely with the simplicity of this dessert. Now, if only we all had little blue serving bowls as beautiful as this one.

See more illustrated recipes using strawberries, apples, pears, cranberries and other festive fruits today on They Draw and Cook and check out all of Food Network's holiday dessert coverage.

—Nate Padavick & Salli Swindell from They Draw and Cook.