Photo provided by Yum-Wick Inc.

It’s nice to hear a round of “Happy Birthday” before digging into your birthday cake, but that serenade comes at the expense of wax from the candles dripping onto the cake with each passing note.

But what if the candles were also the dessert? Two and a half years ago, Tara Johnson formed Yum-Wick Inc., which sells her original chocolate candles. And, the product is now available for licensing so more people can enjoy them.

She makes the candles by hand in her Brooklyn, N.Y., factory, but growing demand has caused the company to outgrow the small space.

“Since they’re special occasion candles, we want to make sure they arrive timely, and with so much interest, licensing the concept is the best way to achieve this goal,” Johnson says.

Johnson hopes the licensing process will make the candles more accessible to customers, cut down on shipping time and costs, and compensate the company for investing in patents and research and development. Licensees will have access to Yum-Wick’s trade secrets and branding in exchange for giving the company a percentage of the profit.

Yum-Wick candles are the first completely edible candles; the wick is made of almond and the candle is made of chocolate. Flavors include white chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate and the candles are available in a variety of shapes and designs, including the option to personalize.

“I really want to concentrate on bringing new ideas to market,” Johnson says. “Manufacturing our yummy candles was the best way to prove that the concept really works and is so yummy, too!”