Disgusted with cake mix sizes today!!!

[JohnDaleswife]

So disgusted with cake mixes now days. Was only able to get 23 cupcakes out of my box of Duncan Hines and almost nothing left to lick the bowl.

My Duncan Hines box had 16.5 oz in it and you added
-3 eggs, 1/3 cup oil and 1/2 cup water.

My Pillsbury box had 15.25 oz in it and you added
-3 eggs, 1/3 cup oil and 1 cup water.

and the worst offender

Betty Crocker box had 15.25 oz in it as well and you added
-3 eggs, 1/2 cup oil and a whopping 1 1/4 cups of water!!

Looks like they really want you to make up the cake mix loss with water!!!

 

[ncdj2013]

I was trying to decide whether to use a mix or make Grandsons birthday cake from scratch. Think I will go with scratch.

 

[cel_disney]

I had assumed that they had found a way to dehydrate more ingredients - thus having a lower weight for shipping...(and needing more water to re-hydrate) - maybe they really are including less!

 

[junebugs]

Me too! I have a recipe for dessert bars that calls for 1 box of cake mix. I used to make it all the time and it came out perfect. Then suddenly it started to come out too thin and the wrong texture. It took me a few times to realize that it was because the cake mix was SMALLER! I had to start buying 2 boxes and taking a 1/4 cup from the second box just so it would taste good again. Very annoying!

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

You can't just add water to make up for lost ingredients...baking follows exact measurements. 24 is a standard number of cupcakes for a box mix, has been forever. How many cupcakes had you gotten from a single box in the past?

 

[North of Mouse]

Cake mixes used to be 18oz. but like almost everything else they've decreased the sizes, and of course the ingredients, all the while 'most times' increasing the price. Examples - OJ - 59oz vs. 64, Nabisco cra*kers - 13oz vs 16, and many more I could name just by looking in my pantry and bathroom closet (liquid soaps, toilet paper, etc.). Really ticks me off also. They take us for stupid and I guess some people may be unaware of their tactics.

 

[arthur06]

It really is common place for the size to decrease in an effort to maintain the current price point.

As PP noted several examples. Yogurt used to be 8 oz now they are closer to 6 oz. Sugar used to be 5 lbs and now its 4 lbs.

They count on the consumer to pay the same price and not notice the decrease in size.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We just made cupcakes the other day. I deliberately overfilled the cupcakes and that have us about 18 or so cupcakes. I think I could have easily gotten 24. Ours was the red box which I think is Betty Crocker.

Regardless--our box did say that it yields 24 cupcakes. I did not note the filling instructions. Typically it is 2/3 full. So if you follow the box instructions, 24 should result. If not, that is a problem.

But we enjoyed a gigantic cupcakes. (3/4 or more full)

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Oh, all the boxes still say 24 cupcakes. I have always and will always fill them to 1/2 full. I can't really complain about not having much to lick on when the bowl is empty, but not even getting the full 24 is absurd. I am not going to fill them with less to get the whole 24 either.

I think Duncan Hines has the most mix in their boxes now, I think. But going from 18 oz down to 16.5 oz and even worse the 15.25 oz is nothing more than corporate greed at its best. I just wonder how long it will before all boxes will only yield a dozen cupcakes?

 

[3boymthr]

Ahhh, but the pan manufacturers are in on the conspiracy as well!

I made muffins with my pans, then needed additional pans to make more. I ran to my mom's and grabbed her pans. They're about 50 years old, maybe older - she's had the same pans my whole life. They're from the time when a standard pan held 6 cupcakes. The cups, standard for the time they were made are absolutely, positively, larger, probably holding two or three tablespoons more of batter. She says that they held a standard cupcake paper at the time, but my cupcake papers were just a tad too small.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

You can't just add water to make up for lost ingredients...baking follows exact measurements. 24 is a standard number of cupcakes for a box mix, has been forever. How many cupcakes had you gotten from a single box in the past?

Well something has got to make up for the lesser amount in these boxes now a days. When you go from 18 to 15.25, that is almost a full 3 oz difference. So I am just assuming they are thinking extra water, oil, ect will do the trick. Something has to have given here. Maybe its the taste and quality of the cakes and such?

 

[bdcp]

Okay, I'm confused as to why this is even an issue. The mixes still make the same amount of cake/cupcakes. If anything, they are more moist than they used to be and this is a bad thing how?

Between work and life I don't have time to even check or care. But, more water doesn't make up for anything. That's a weird argument. The mix is probably just different and the water hydrates the mix.

 

[manning]

That's inflation for you.

Raise the price and keep the same amount or

keep the price the same and lower the amount or

Raise the price and lower the amount. This doesn't raise the price as much.

Have you noticed that 16 oz of something is now 15.5 or 15 oz of something. But the price is the same or hasn't raised much.

IE you got something that cost 1.50 for 16 oz
Keep the price the same and lower the size to 15,5

That's about a 3 percent increase.

 

[bdcp]

That's inflation for you.

Raise the price and keep the same amount or

keep the price the same and lower the amount or

Raise the price and lower the amount. This doesn't raise the price as much.

Have you noticed that 16 oz of something is now 15.5 or 15 oz of something. But the price is the same or hasn't raised much.

IE you got something that cost 1.50 for 16 oz
Keep the price the same and lower the size to 15,5

That's about a 3 percent increase.

Costs have gone up. People complain so the manufacturers play games. I'm not sure why people think prices need to stay the same when the costs are going up. It's simple economics.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Okay, I'm confused as to why this is even an issue. The mixes still make the same amount of cake/cupcakes. If anything, they are more moist than they used to be and this is a bad thing how?

Between work and life I don't have time to even check or care. But, more water doesn't make up for anything. That's a weird argument. The mix is probably just different and the water hydrates the mix.

I got 23 cupcakes, not 24. And that was with the Duncan Hines, the others had even less mix in them. Probably wouldn't have got but around 21 or 22 there. I really don't know about the water thing, but the mixes with less mix in them did require more water, so go figure.

I am in the camp I suppose of just raising the prices on this particular item and keep the same amount as before in the boxes. I just feel it may not be long before all boxes will make a whopping dozen cupcakes.

 

[misse336]

I have never checked the back of the box/weight of the mix or thought about how much water I put in the cupcakes. I've just made them and always gotten 24. But, I just made a Pillsbury box mix on Friday for an event ds was going to and I only got 21 cupcakes from the box. The box said to fill the cupcakes 2/3 full and you would get 24 cupcakes. I only got 21 and even at that some of them were a little bit on the smaller size and I used icing to make them appear larger.

I'm with you in the camp of raise the price and keep the amount the same in them. At the very least be realistic on the box about how many cupcakes you will get. I didn't need 24 cupcakes for this particular event, but when I make them for him to take into his classroom I do need 24 cupcakes so I would have been really disappointed if I was making them and actually needed there to be 24 cupcakes.

 

[ellone]

Well something has got to make up for the lesser amount in these boxes now a days. When you go from 18 to 15.25, that is almost a full 3 oz difference. So I am just assuming they are thinking extra water, oil, ect will do the trick. Something has to have given here. Maybe its the taste and quality of the cakes and such?

The mix probably changed. You can't keep ingredients the same and just add more water. It would be too runny. I looked up Duncan Hines and the first ingredient is wheat starch which is a thickener and you also have corn starch (another thickener) before you get to flour (the 12th ingredient on the yellow cake mix I saw).

 

[marmalade]

The mix probably changed. You can't keep ingredients the same and just add more water. It would be too runny. I looked up Duncan Hines and the first ingredient is wheat starch which is a thickener and you also have corn starch (another thickener) before you get to flour (the 12th ingredient on the yellow cake mix I saw).

Are you serious, the 12th ingredient?

 

[LauraLea]

Taken from Julie Cataldo couponing blog site:

Three-Ounce Cake Mix "Upsizer"
Adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book white and yellow cake recipes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Whisk all dry ingredients together and store in a clean mason jar. When you wish to increase a 15.25 ounce cake mix to 18.25 ounces, add three ounces of this mix (6 tablespoons) to your existing cake mix.

Laura

 

[kymom99]

I totally get the frustration here. If I am buying ice cream and they change the carton to 1 1/2 quarts from 1/2 gallon, so be it. But when they change items that are used in recipes, things don't come out right. We have an old recipe for buckeyes that calls for the big Hershey bars as part of the chocolate coating. These have changed in size so many times over the years. We constantly have to watch to see that we are getting the right amount. Also, peanut butter jars vary now in how much they contain. It can be aggravating.