3 Days to Open: Confections of a Rock$tar
Just days before opening, Bobby Flay and his pastry chef, Clarisa Martino, tackled failing ovens, amateur kitchen help and inferior ingredients at New Jersey bakery Confections of a Rock$tar to make sure that Kimmee launched her dream shop on time. So how is Confections doing now that Bobby and Clarisa have left and Kimmee has been running the bakery on her own?
Today, Confections enjoys sales of $400 per day in the middle of the week, $1200 per day on Fridays and Saturdays and $1000 per day on Sundays. The bakery is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays to allow time for individual cake consultations and bakery preparations.
Kimmee's taken advantage of the techniques Bobby and Clarisa taught her, and says that “Bobby taught me how to do things the right way. Everything he taught me I am utilizing daily.” This includes baking cupcakes with quality ingredients daily and embracing the importance of organization and time management.
Kimmee's front-of-house staff remains largely the same, although she has let go of Brooke, the baker, and hired two professionally trained bakers. Kimmee thanks Bobby for showing her how much she needed additional help around the bakery. “No way could I handle it all on my own,” she says. “I needed that push from Bobby because it wasn't in the budget, so I had to find it and make it happen.” Kimmee's partner, Lisa, is still learning to balance her full-time job and the demands of her role at Confections.
As for the cupcakes, Kimmee's menu of flavors features a mix of old and new. In addition to the five that Bobby helped her create, she sells Don't Be Cruel, a banana cake with peanut butter frosting and honey-dipped bacon, and Strawberry Fields, which features strawberry cake topped with lemon frosting, among others. She's also incorporated non-cupcake items, like pastries and cookies, to round out her bakery's "Set List."
Customers tell Kimmee that her cupcakes are “a religious experience” and “the best thing I've ever eaten.” She says there's a line of customers on weekends and that business has been a mix of regulars and first-timers alike.
Though she works 18-hour days and is extremely busy, Kimmee couldn't be happier with Confections of a Rock$tar and says that "It's so nice to finally be baking in a real kitchen!" Kimmee knows that she has to work to continue this initial success, but it's work that she’s excited to do. “I wish I could work with Bobby once a year so I can keep learning and improving," she says.
