Family restaurant chain goes hogwild with bacon and ice cream dessert

Bacon, good. Ice cream, good. But together? Family-style restaurant chain
Denny's has jumped on the 'Baco-mania' train - a food trend in which bacon tops off everything from donuts to fudge - with their new "Baconalia!" campaign for pork lovers.

The limited time menu features seven new, bacon-heavy items including their headline act, the Maple Bacon Sundae, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, layered with maple-flavored syrup and sprinkled with diced hickory-smoked bacon.

Bacon flavored sweets have been trending wildly over the last few years, with adventurous cooks using the smoked, cured pork in glazed donuts, bread pudding, fudge, chocolate and cupcakes. And while hipster foodies consider bacon-flavored desserts passé by now, fast-food chains and franchises are bringing the fad into mainstream dining.

Denny's, which is known for being an all-day breakfast joint, has also launched a Facebook campaign in which fans can enter a contest for their chance to win a trip to Baconfest 2011 in Chicago April 9. The weeklong sweepstake begins today and ends April 4. Runners-up receive $100 gift certificates to Denny's.

Other items on the Baconalia! menu include bacon breakfasts, a bacon meatloaf and a BBBLT, a triple-decker bacon sandwich.

IHOP, another North American family restaurant chain, launched a Bacon 'n Beef Burgers menu in which hickory-smoked bacon is cooked into the beef patty. Wendy's also sells the Baconator sandwich, a double or triple-decker burger with layers of bacon, in Canada and the US.

Denny's has 1,500 restaurants in the US, Canada, Costa Rica, Guam, Mexico, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.