Have you ever seen adults lap sauce from a dessert plate the way a ravenous dog licks his bowl? Well, this recipe will promote such behavior. I've seen it, so Zola knows.

So many people want lo-carb desserts that taste like something better than cardboard. Frankly, there aren't a lot of options. Things have gotten better since the early days a couple of years ago when ordering lo-carb dessert mixes meant high prices for things ordered on the Internet and resulted in desserts that went directly down the garbage disposal. I couldn't even serve them. They were disgusting. And sugar-free gelatin only goes so far to satisfy a sweet tooth.

So I've been slaving over my stove in short bursts to try to solve the problem. I'm taking the traditional desserts and putting a new spin on them and taking out the sugar. It's nothing new. Diabetics have been doing it for years. My goal is to modernize these dessert options and make sure they have a Zola twist to them.

I hope you'll like this one. Feel free to give me your reviews. The first reviews (described above) came from a group of friends who were over for dinner recently. These are folks who have no need for lo-carbs (translated to . . . they exercise more than most of us put together). They are completely healthy and don't use sweetening agents. They are all-natural. They slurped it up, cooed, and almost jumped for joy. I think they left the jumping-for-joy part off because we were watching one of the last episodes of "Sex in the City" while we ate dessert, and jumping in front of the TV would have been met with jeers.

I hope this sauce gets your cheers!

Enjoy! Zola

Lo-Carb Kahlua Coffee Dessert Sauce

1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbl Kahlua
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup Splenda sweetener
1/2 cup strong coffee brewed. (It can be regular coffee, decaf or even instant.)

Heat one cup of heavy cream and the Kahlua in a small sauce pan until gently boiling. Don't let it get too hot or it will boil over. (Messy.) Take off the burner and let it sit for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolk and the Splenda. Whip by hand to mix it well. Slowly pour the warm cream mixture into the egg mix. Do this slowly and stir constantly or you'll have scrambled eggs.

Put the mixture back into the sauce pan and heat on medium so it slowly bubbles and reduces for 10 minutes. You'll want to use a wooden spoon and check toward the end to see if it is leaving a thick film on the back of the spoon. If it is, you're ready to add the coffee. When the coffee is in, simmer another five minutes to thicken it a bit more.

Cover and chill until ready to use.

Notes: I don't have a plan for what you'll serve this on. If you're on a lo-carb induction, it's difficult to find something that will qualify. You could dip lo-carb cookies in it or a low carb bar. If you're on maintenance or just watching your carb intake, you can find some more options.

This is basically a wonderfully decadent mocha "soupy sauce." In fine restaurants you'll see a pool of crème anglaise underneath desserts. This is like that. You can serve it under a piece of angel food cake. You can serve it on top of lo-carb ice cream. You can have a tee-e-e-e-ny slice of something decadent but then not feel guilty about the sauce you're slurping up off of the plate. Get it? There are a million options if you just go easy. Keep in mind, too, that Kahlua has sugar in it. You can cut the Kahlua amount down or, if you don't want the carbs or if you don't cook with liqueur at all, you can use coffee flavoring and leave out the Kahlua entirely.