DINING

Asbury Park sweet shop bakes up something new

Sarah Griesemer
@sarahegriesemer
With the help of owner Kimmee Masi, Mark Weiss creates a dessert at Confections of a RockStar in Asbury Park.

Nearly four years ago, Confections of a Rock$tar opened to quite a bit of fanfare.

The rock ’n‘ roll-themed Asbury Park bakery, which specializes in creative and decadent cupcakes and custom cakes, was featured on Food Network’s “3 Days to Open with Bobby Flay.” The celebrity chef mentored first-time business owners Kimmee Masi and Lisa Lasky in the days leading up to their grand opening in June 2012.

Now that they have a few years behind them, Masi and Lasky are inviting more celebrities behind the counter, and for a good cause. Their new Web series, “More Famous Than You,” features musicians and people from the music world who, with Masi’s help, create their own desserts. The sweets are then sold at the bakery, with all proceeds going to the guest’s chosen charity.

The name for the show, which first aired in December with New Jersey-born musician Christine Martucci, is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the bakery’s beginnings.

The celebrities' dessert jars are sold for $8, with all proceeds going toward their chosen charity.

“Ever since the Bobby Flay thing, people are like, ‘You’re more famous than me,’ “ said Masi, who learned her way around a bakery from her late father, Vincent P. Masi, who owned Vincent’s Cookie Cupboard in Freehold and Manalapan. “I decided to take something that sounded so cocky and turn it into something that has a nice ending to it.”

Masi, who worked on getting the show of the ground for nearly two years, has fun in front of the camera, but the focus of the show is on giving back, she said.

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“I do whatever I can do to help people,” she said.

For the first show, Martucci and Masi baked gingerbread cake with spiked eggnog filling and frosting and crumbled gingersnaps. They named the creation “Piece of Heaven,” after one of the musician’s songs. The cake was packaged into mason jars, which sell for $8.

As her charity, Martucci, a former sergeant in the Army, chose Driven By Heroes, a nonprofit organization that provides veterans with free transportation to medical appointments.

The newest of the episodes, which are produced by Socialitize in Belmar, was released Sunday Jan, 10, and features Deedee Montanaro of the duo Strumberry Pie. She and Masi made champagne cake with raspberry and Chambord whipped cream filling and frosting, plus fresh raspberry sauce. It is available for purchase beginning today.

• February: Drummer Charlie Mills will bake to benefit New Jersey Recovery Advocates.

• March: Mark Weiss, a rock ‘n’ roll photographer, will bake for Rock It Foundation, which provides a variety of community-based services.

• April: Glen Burtnik, a songwriter, musician and former member of Styx, will bake for the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.

The guests’ treats each will be sold for a limited time.

Deedee Montanaro is featured on this month's episode of the Web series "More Famous Than You."

As for future guests, Masi said she would love to bake with “Bruce and Jon, of course,” plus Queen Latifah, Chef Anne Burrell, and Animal from “The Muppet Show.”

“It’s fun, and people enjoy it,” Masi said of “More Famous Than You.” The eight-minute segments are light-hearted, playful and fun to watch, and “at the end of the day, it’s gonna help people.”

Episodes of “More Famous Than You” can be found on Confections of a Rock$tar’s Facebook page and at www.coarock.com and www.morefamousthanyou.com.

Confections of a Rock$tar is at 550 Cookman Ave. in Asbury Park. For more information, call 732-455-3510.