A WEST Somerset village went crazy for cake as home baker Nikki Seymour and her partner Sam Taylor opened a new High Street shop.

Nikki’s award-winning business Bake Me Crazy moved into permanent retail premises in Porlock after five years in which she ran it from home.

A spectacular opening involved customers going on a treasure hunt via social media clues to find five golden tickets to win a treat box, and free cake tasters which quickly ran out due to demand.

Nikki said the occasion had been ‘absolutely mad, the queues were unexpected and a proper pinch me moment’.

She said: “It has been a long-time dream of mine to open a shop, but something I never thought I could achieve.

“It would never have been possible without three very amazing people and I will be forever grateful.

“We are so sorry to all who made the journey to come and visit and arrived to find us sold out.

“I baked more than I ever have before for an event and it still was not enough.”

She said Bake Me Crazy was quickly fully-booked for birthday/wedding/celebration cakes for the whole of May and most of June.

After supplying local businesses with cakes and sweet treats for several years, Nikki’s own kitchen and cakery is now located next to Porlock’s Royal Oak public house.

The business stems from Nikki’s childhood love of baking when she would help her mother and also started to make her own recipes.

Nikki said the constant support she received from customers had been ‘mind blowing’, with many words of encouragement and cheerleading from afar, cards, and gifts, together with those who worked behind the scenes for the opening. 

Praise poured in on social media with one customer Gaynor Ellicott saying: “You have built up a good reputation in what you have been selling in the past few years, so it is great that you were so, so busy.”

Jo Reynolds said: “You should be so proud of yourselves, I am in awe of your hard work and all that you have clearly put into making this dream a reality.”