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Lemon Honey Chiffon Cupcakes

Lemon chiffon cupcakes filled with creamy lemon curd, these tender mini cakes pop with flavor! A shiny yellow honey-sweetened custard pokes out of each center –that means oodles of lemony citrus magic!

cake platter with honey lemon chiffon cupcake display

These lemon cupcakes have a wholesome quality and subtle rustic sweetness because they’re made with whole wheat flower and honey.

Click here to PIN Honey Lemon Chiffon Cupcakes!

For light chiffon cakes, this recipe calls for flavorless avocado oil. If you like, and I strongly encourage, give your cupcakes a lovely mysterious fragrance using lemon-infused olive oil in place of the usual chiffon cake vegetable oil. This lemon-infused olive oil from Texas Hill Country looks fabulous.

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You want to make the Honey Lemon Curd first. It’s an easy recipe made in a double boiler–simply lemon juice and zest, butter, egg yolks and honey. You can make the curd well ahead–it even freezes well.

When the cupcakes are out of the oven and have cooled to room temp, you scoop some of the cake out of the center and fill with the lemon curd! If you wish, sprinkle confectioners’ (powdered) sugar through a fine sieve to lightly dust the tops.

piping lemon curd into cupcakes
What is chiffon cake?

Chiffon cakes are different than other cakes in that they’re made with oil instead of butter. Also, like in these chiffon cupcakes, the eggs are separated into yolks and whites.
For chiffon cakes, the whites are whipped to soft peaks. The whipped egg whites lighten the batter and help it rise. The egg yolks and the vegetable oil make chiffon cakes both tender and moist.

Why do you use both arrowroot starch and whole wheat flour in these chiffon cupcakes?

This recipe uses white whole-wheat flour and a small percentage of arrowroot starch. Arrowroot starch, aka arrowroot flour, is there to lighten the whole wheat flour, and so gives these cupcakes a lighter texture. Instead of the whole wheat and arrowroot mixture, you can substitute 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cake flour.

What is arrowroot starch/flour?

White arrowroot starch/flour is made from a tropical root plant. It’s completely tasteless, gluten-free, easy to digest, and works very well in baked goods, like in these honey lemon cupcakes. You can substitute arrowroot for cornstarch in recipes. When used to thicken sauces, arrowroot starch becomes clear.

firm egg whites on beater demo

Lemon Honey Chiffon Cupcakes recipe details:

  • You will have egg whites leftover from making the lemon curd. These chiffon cupcakes call for 2 yolks and 3 whites, so you’ll need one of those whites. (I always freeze unused egg whites, to use later in chiffon cupcakes, meringues or as a glaze. Let thaw before using them. You can figure that two tablespoons of egg whites roughly equals 1 egg white.)
  • An easy tool for cutting out the holes for lemon curd, is the clever cute push-button strawberry huller. (Affiliate link.) The huller neatly and quickly removes the perfect amount of cake. A curved serrated grapefruit knife works well too.
  • The easiest way to fill the centers of the cupcakes is with a pastry bag. (Affiliate link.) You can also drop the lemon curd in using a spoon.

My Mom used to bake an easy lemon chiffon cake that she didn’t have to frost. As soon as the cake came out of the oven, she’d poke a skewer all over, creating holes for the lemon sugar glaze soak. Mom used cake mix from a box, because cake mix is a busy woman’s friend. She would have loved these made from scratch lemon honey chiffon cupcakes.

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PS If you make this recipe and love it, please consider leaving a blog post comment. Your comments help other readers learn more about the recipe. If you’d also give the recipe a ✮✮✮✮✮ rating, I’d be delighted!

Nutrition information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. The numbers will vary based on the quantity consumed, brands used and any substitutions. Numbers here do not include the lemon curd filling.

*** This recipe is an edit update of one I posted back in May 2015.

Filed under: Cakes, Recipes, Sweets, Whole Grains

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9 comments

  • Yum! I love anything lemon and sweet together. Now I wish I had one of those for breakfast… Reply · 5 May, 2015

    • Letty

      Whole wheat, honey, eggs, lemon curd and olive oil sound like breakfast to me! Reply · 5 May, 2015

  • Teri Thomas

    Your photos keep getting better and better! Yummm! Reply · 5 May, 2015

  • Sweet story and delicious looking! Reply · 5 May, 2015

  • That curd is so much nicer than frosting. GREG Reply · 6 May, 2015

  • My mom loved lemon too. She probably even made the cake your mom loved. I’m so glad I got to eat one of these luscious lemon cupcakes. They were scrumptious! Reply · 8 May, 2015

  • Dennis Halloran

    Our Family Home had a big yard and we had one or two of every kind of fruit tree. The prolific Lemon tree was first outside the entrance to the cellar, precursor to Mom’s dwarf Lemon Reply · 18 May, 2015

  • Parricia😍

    mmm. Think I’ll make these for Easter. Reply · 10 April, 2022

  • The recipe for Lemon Honey Chiffon Cupcakes is a nice read and I will cook it shortly. But for cupcake baking, I wish to try ghee butter instead of olive oil. Ghee offers a higher smoke point and it is more flavorful than olive oil. will ghee be the right choice, friends? Please let me know.
    https://milkio.co.nz/ghee-butter/ Reply · 11 June, 2022

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