CAKE is the centre of many celebrations, bringing people together at exciting social events such as weddings and birthdays.

Nikki Seymour, owner of Bake Me Crazy, loved to cook from a young age after realising that food is the centre of many sociable events.

She always loved to help her mum in the kitchen, and as she got older she started to create her own dinner and dessert recopies, which eventually progressed to bakes and cakes.

After studying a psychology degree in Cheltenham, travelling and then moving to Devon to be nearer to her family, Nikki could not find a job that she loved or felt like staying in until she started her own business – Bake Me Crazy.

Somerset County Gazette:

Nikki said: “Nobody likes a stingy piece of cake and being a huge tea and cake fan, I decided after visiting a few places over a summer with a friend that we would use our days off to experiment with recipes and bake our own cakes and sweet treats.

“We used to sit in the garden with our cakes and tea and chat about how much we would love to bake as a full-time job.

“I spent many days in my previous role convinced that there was more to life than sitting at a desk staring at a computer for 39 hours of the week working for someone else, I wanted to feel a sense of achievement and be challenged so I took what I felt was a huge risk and left my job to see if I could turn my passion in to a job.”

Now, with Bake Me Crazy in Porlock, Nikki bakes for a variety of different events and supplies her local village Spar shop in Porlock with brownies, cookies and tiffin.

Chocolate is most definitely the one ingredient Nikki couldn’t live without.

Yet, she loves to get creative making tall cakes as centrepieces for events – and as you can see, her designs are impressive.

She said: “Cake is a staple tradition at many an occasion, a birthday or a wedding would seem incomplete without cake.

“Cakes are very personal to the person/people celebrating, they encompass all the things they love, their favourite flavours, often their favourite colours and always personal themes that reveal a bit about their personality.

“I love to bake because I have the freedom to create new flavours, work with different textures and create bespoke pieces that are often given as a surprise.

“I have recently found a love for Lemon, Ginger and Tumeric cake. It is very tasty and full of strong flavours.

“As much as possible we use locally sourced ingredients, all our eggs are free range from a local supplier.

“We pick fruit locally that we use in various bakes and to make our own jam for filling cakes.

“We also make a variety of boozy cakes that contain locally made alcohol for example Secret Orchard Cider and Exmoor Gin.”

Somerset County Gazette:

February sees the arrival of the Exmoor Food Festival and Bake Me Crazy will be taking part in their weekend long event - the Taste Exmoor Food & Drink Fair at the Porlock Village Hall - which runs from Saturday, February 29 until Sunday, March 1. They will be there with a variety of cakes and bakes for you to enjoy.

Nikki added: “Events like this are great for us as we love to get out of the kitchen with our bakes and meet new people, chat to returning customers and discuss potential future orders with customers face to face.

“The diary for 2020 is filling up fast, we will be attending a number of markets and fairs this year.

“We constantly strive to develop and grow our little business, so we are always busy behind the scenes brainstorming and planning our next steps.”

For more information visit Bake Me Crazy on social media, b.a.k.e.m.e.c.r.a.z.y on Instagram or bakemecrazytreats on Facebook, or visit her website bakemecrazy.co.uk