Air-Fryer Passionfruit Custard Scrolls

The custard scroll is the bakery item Australians grew up on — soft yeasted dough rolled with thick vanilla custard, sometimes finished with icing or fruit. The passionfruit variant uses fresh passionfruit pulp folded into the custard before rolling, giving the scrolls a sharp tropical edge against the sweet custard base, and the seeds caramelise on top as they bake.

The dough is enriched and lightly sweetened — close to brioche but quicker. The custard is the standard pastry-cream technique: milk and cream warmed, egg yolks and sugar whisked, combined and thickened with cornflour. Cool fully before spreading or it makes the dough soggy.

Roll, slice into 8 scrolls, proof briefly, air-fry at 180°C for 12 minutes. The bottoms go deep golden, the top edges blister, and the passionfruit seeds on top caramelise into tiny pops of dark sweetness.

The photo shows the finished scrolls in a parchment-lined air-fryer basket: golden swirls with visible custard at the cut edges, dark passionfruit seeds across the tops, one scroll broken open to show the soft custardy spiral inside.