Burger King - not just for burgers anymore

(Burger King)

The burger chain opened the doors of its first Dessert Bar in the UK in London on Friday, December 3.

The Westfield stand-alone location serves a special menu of existing Burger King items, with nary a burger in sight, and diners will also get more acquainted with King, the iconic character from the chain's U.S. advertising campaigns.

Menu options include brownies, blondies, cakes, cookies, muffins, standard milkshakes, BK Fusions Milkshakes, BK Fusions chilled desserts, mini pancakes, pancakes and round cakes.

The first Burger King Dessert Bar opened in Benidorm, Spain earlier this year, and there are several locations operating in South America.

Burger King's Whopper Bar was launched in the U.S. in January, where diners in South Beach, Times Square and Orlando can sip beer while munching on their burgers. There are also Whopper Bars in Spain's Malaga International Airport and Singapore's Clarke Quay.

Europeans, Aussies and New Zealanders have been enjoying espressos, pastries and desserts at McDonald's burger-free stand-alone McCafe's for years. There are currently no McCafes in the U.K., but the company says it plans to open its first in Britain in 2011. McCafes in each market offer localized specialties from chestnut Macarons in France to raspberry Friands in Australia. There are a few McCafes in Japan and China, which are attached to traditional McDonald's and offer desserts like taro pie.

According to the market intelligence firm YouGov, one in four British consumers eat chilled desserts once a week, while Chicago-based food industry consultancy Technomic's 2010 Dessert Consumer Trend Report showed that consumers in the U.K, Canada and the U.S. have consistently eaten more dessert over the past three years, despite the economic crunch. Only 1 percent of those surveyed by Technomic said they did not eat dessert, while 70 percent admitted to eating it at least once a week.