Every day is Christmas at Rudolph's Custard Shop in south St. Petersburg. Owner Larry Rudolph opened the incredibly charming little shop just weeks ago, longing for a small neighborhood feeling, just like he remembers from his childhood in Ohio.

He could have chosen a downtown location with a lot more foot traffic, but he's right where he wants to be, on 6^th St. South, next to the legendary Munch's Restaurant.

Although Christmas is the theme, frozen custard is the star. It comes from a secret homemade recipe created 30 years ago by Rudolph's parents, George and Peggy. They developed it using premium custard ingredients, including 1.4 percent  pasteurized egg yolk, 10 percent butter fat and pure honey blended in a machine made exclusively for producing custard.

“We've got our own secret recipe and I won't reveal that,” Rudolph proudly says. “Honey custard is our trademark. That's our product and that was an invention of my dad's. It's a true custard; a super premium ice cream. To be a custard it's got to have the right ingredients plus it has to be made properly.”

Flavors are vanilla and chocolate, with a choice of 17 toppings and homemade whipped cream. The custard is served in a cone or cup, large or small and everything is served with a Christmas theme.

A shake is a Shiver, a parfait a Blitzen, a Sunday a Snowday and so on. Rudolph personally makes the custard and the whipped cream fresh every morning at 5 a.m. It is never stored and served the next day, which is tricky to pull off, particularly with such a new shop. If the stock is running low he simply comes back and makes a new batch.

“Everything is done right here in the shop every day, from the egg yolks to the vanillas the cocoas, the honey, everything,” he says. “There's a big difference between custard and ice cream. Its fresh and custard should not have any air in it. Every penny you spend is on cream.”

As much as it costs to prepare the true custard, his prices (about $3 a serving) don't reflect it. None of the ingredients is imitation, including 100 percent real cocoa, which first has to be melted and then incorporated into the process.

Rudolph is a financial planner for Wells Fargo and works in downtown St. Pete but opens the shop every day and is close by to keep an eye on the custard supply. His manager, Leah, runs the operation when he's not there.

The original shop opened in 1982 in Valley City, Ohio, a farm town outside Cleveland, where Larry worked as a teenager. His father was a career salesman but always had his hand in the restaurant business, and the family used to operate a concession stand at balloon festivals, carnivals, tractor pulls and other events, providing the genesis of the idea for a custard shop in a small town.

“This location just grabbed me,” he says with excitement. “Our Valley City location was in a cute little country town. Not your busy shopping malls. Everyone in the community new it and this to me – south St. Pete – is just that way. It's a great little community. Munch's has been here sixty years in the same family. There's great community loyalty and I wanted to have customers like that.”

Everything in the shop, a former post office, is brand new and spotless. Every inch is utilized and decorated, with old-fashioned colorful stools for the customers to sit at along the front the counter. It is loaded with Christmas decorations, including a wish list mailbox for Santa with Christmas movies and music playing all day.

Rudolph would consider opening additional stores in the future, possibly independently owned, but he wouldn't want to franchise. He is steadfast on his focus on small, neighborhood shops.

“The neighborhood shop atmosphere has surprised me beyond my expectations,” he's happy to say. “The people are awesome and they've been telling their friends about it. People are coming back now saying so and so told me I had to come and try this.”

Rudolph has three children and still takes care of his mother, who lives in Jacksonville. His father passed away many years ago, not long after opening their store, and the custard shop is a long-held dream. He and his family have been in Florida for 25 years, and after decades of thinking about it, he finally decided to give in to his desire.

“Life grabs you,” he says. “I've been taking care of my mom and for whatever reason I said, 'OK, you know what, I'm going to go out and start the custard shop again.' ”

Hours of operation are from noon to 9 pm, 7 days a week. Rudolph's Custard Shop is at the intersection of 6^th St. S. and 40^th Ave. S. and can be reached by phone at 727-260-1658 or via its web site or Facebook page.