A MUM has followed her dream by opening a new cake and coffee shop in Prestatyn.
Julie Ivers-Ellis has opened aptly named Cake and Coffee on 156 High Street.
Since opening on Friday, October 13, Julie has received an amazing response from customers and has sold out of cakes and treats every day.
"The response has been amazing, everyone has been so positive about the cakes and we’ve had so many lovely messages," Julie said.
Cake and Coffee's speciality is cheesecakes. They also offer cake slices such as chocolate sponge, Victoria sponge, carrot cake, coffee cake, lemon and blueberry cake, banana loaf and vegan flapjacks.
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There are also treats such as brownies, blondies, cookies, Bronuts and pastries (and currently - some spooky bakes for the time of year!) as well as light bites like crumpets, tea cakes and toast with a selection of jam.
All of these are paired with a 'mug run' coffee sourced from suppliers Aisha and Tim from the area.
Customers can opt to eat in or take away.
Julie, who is married to Steve [The couple have four children between them - Chloe, Tom, Kim and Louie], said: "We collected the keys on Saturday, September 30, so had under two weeks to get the shop ready. We completely transformed it.
"Steve worked non-stop getting it ready. We moved the counter and added in benches so we could fit in more tables.
"We decided we wanted to make the shop stand out on the high street, so with the help of our dear friend Neil we painted it my favourite colour - pink. We had the signs made by Wall Signs (NW) Ltd in Flint and it was transformed.
"I absolutely love what we’ve made at Cake and Coffee. I think it looks beautiful on our high street.
"We’ve completely changed the inside," Julie added.
"We have a seasonal display behind the counter, with flowers on the walls."
Julie used to work in the NHS but has always had a passion for baking and desserts.
"I’ve always made cakes for family occasions like birthdays," Julie said.
"On Valentines Day, before lockdown, my daughter had the idea of making a fully loaded cheesecake for our partners as a present. We set about our creation and from then, everyone was asking where we got them from so we decided to set up 'Cheesecake Creations' on Instagram and Facebook.
"When lockdown hit, we decided to put Cheesecake Creations on hold for a while.
"I started back selling cheesecakes to friends and family as well as working part time in the NHS.
"Cheesecake Creations just kept getting more and more popular and then an opportunity came up at Cafe Y Shed to rent a space and make and sell my cheesecakes from there.
"It was looking like everything was going ahead and then at the last minute, it fell through."
Steve decided to make his wife a purpose built kitchen in the garden where Julie could make all her creations from.
Julie said: "It was only small but I loved it. I gained my five-star food and hygiene rating and obtained the necessary insurance etc to enable me to sell to the public.
"I was in this kitchen for around six-months but with the demand, I soon outgrew this."
Julie has always dreamed of having her own shop but felt it wouldn't become a reality.
"My cousin Sarah sent me a link to a shop on the high street looking for someone to take over the lease," Julie said.
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"I saw it and immediately fell in love. I knew that it was meant to be."
Julie's son Tom came up with the name and her son Louie has been helping with the accounts side of the business.
"I was so happy, years of hard work had led to this moment," Julie said.
"My true inspiration to finally open a shop was my mum, dad and my brother Paul. They always told me to do it. My dad would always say: 'you’ve got to open a shop my Julie.' Sadly I lost all three of them over the last few years. It made me realise that life is too short and to follow my dreams.
"I hope that they are looking down at my little pink shop with a smile on their face!"
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