Bakery Review: Schulzie's Bread Pudding

Schulzie's Bread Pudding - ordered May 19, 2014, received May 20, 2014 from Schulzie's

I always love discovering new foodie small businesses. Foody Direct is an awesome source for showcasing exactly that and how I discovered Smith Island Baking Company. Now I can credit them with putting Schulzie's Bread Pudding on my radar thanks to one of the promotional emails they sent me that showcased Schulzie's and their bread pudding offerings.

When I looked into the company, I was pleased to discover they're a small business with a storefront in San Francisco and in Venice, CA. Their website also talks about sourcing their ingredients from a local farmers' market and their efforts to be green from the biodegradable containers they use to donation of their green waste to local community gardens for compost. That's the type of business I like to support whenever possible. Plus, let's be honest, I love bread pudding.

So it didn't take much, like maybe a grand total of a few days, from the time I got the promotional email from Foody Direct to when I placed an online order with Schulzie's. The prices did make me blink though: $48 for 3 pints or $80 for a combo 6-pack plus shipping. Ouch. But all in support of a small business, right?

Original Schulzie's Bread Pudding

Since I was close to their San Francisco location, I was fortunate that I got my order very quickly. I placed the order online on Monday morning and received my shipment on Tuesday afternoon. At first I was just going to get a 3-pack but I thought I would only be able to get one flavor (I missed some of the 3-pack combos on the site) and that didn't seem like much of a trial if I was only sampling one flavor. Plus it was a flat shipping rate of $9.95 to my area so it seemed a shame not to "load up", as it were. So I got the 2-flavor, 6-pack combo instead and selected the original (always have to try the original) and the caramel.

Original Schulzie's Bread Pudding

These pictures don't really do the bread pudding justice. The bread pudding is packed in 1-pint containers, clearly labeled with what flavor each pint was and the box contained instructions on how to serve and store the bread pudding (all FoodyDirect packages do). I tried a spoonful of the original one first and thought it was good. I love bread pudding and this one didn't disappoint but in all honesty, I've made equally good bread pudding for far less money. So I was somewhat resigned that I'd spent all this money in the name of research and small business support but I don't know if the original bread pudding was such a standout that I'd rave about it and crave it once my 3 pints were consumed.

Then I pried the lid off the Caramel Charisma bread pudding and took a spoonful of that. Oh. I took another spoonful just to make sure. Okay, yeah, that was really good. The caramel is represented as both a sauce on top that dribbled down the sides and to the bottom as well as ribboning through the bread pudding. In other words, delicious. Sometimes caramel can be overly sweet but not this time and not in this bread pudding. It was the perfect flavor to sweeten the bread pudding without making it cloying. And it was smooth creamy caramel.

Caramel Charisma bread pudding

It's still rich enough that I could only eat a few spoonfuls at a time (and had to hit the treadmill afterwards) but if you like a good bread pudding, Schulzie's doesn't disappoint. I still think it's rather expensive for what you get, even though it was delicious, but possibly because I've made my own bread pudding and can come close to what I just bought. However, I still like being able to support a small business with a great product and I'm not above ordering from them again, both for myself (I want to try a couple more flavors) and to send as gifts to other foodie friends. It's just going to have to be a sometime food, both for my waistline and my wallet.

Caramel Charisma bread pudding