What could be an easier or more beautiful summer dessert for company than a fruit assemblage served with a good balsamic? No one likes to be skimpy with dessert when entertaining, but often guests are pretty full from the meal yet wanting to be polite when offered a dessert.

The answer…..create volume and artistry by slicing the fruits and leaving enough room for drizzles and drops of balsamic. Pass around the bottles and let guests pour their own. Break out those wonderful gift vinegars!

We also added a few stevia leaves to our plates. If you ever come upon a stevia plant at a nursery grab it—the leaves taste nothing like what is sold in the packets! A friend once brought me a little bouquet using stevia as the greenery, and after being encouraged to taste one of the leaves I ate most of the arrangement. The leaves can also be sliced very finely to lightly sweeten a salad dressing. If stevia is not available, mint leaves, sold in packets at Trader Joe’s, are a pretty substitution on the plates.

This dessert can be used as your table décor when you set your dishes out—just remember to give the fruit a light splash with lemon juice to preserve color while you serve and eat the rest of the meal. That way, no need to excuse yourself from your guests while you finish or prepare dessert!

Plates styled and photographed by artist Thomas Schworer. His mixed-media assemblages can be seen at Stacya Silverman Gallery, West Queen Anne at 618 W. McGraw Street, Seattle, across from Macrina Bakery.  www.stacyasilverman.com