Disgusted with cake mix sizes today!!!

[havaneselover]

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

I'd rather just make from scratch, but I'm sure this might be useful for some. But, if you're adding 6 T. of dry ingredients (20%), won't the wet ingredients need to be increased?

 

[JohnDaleswife]

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.

I need to make a few more cupcakes today and I will be using another Duncan Hines mix I have in the cabinet. I will never buy a Pillsbury or Betty Crocker mix again. At least unless Duncan Hines were to get down to
15.25 oz as well (which wouldn't surprise me at all at some point). I went and posted a extremely negative comment to Pillsbury's facebook page about this and they took it down real quick.

 

[LauraLea]

I'd rather just make from scratch, but I'm sure this might be useful for some. But, if you're adding 6 T. of dry ingredients (20%), won't the wet ingredients need to be increased?

The Upsizer is particularly helpful if you have an old recipe that uses a cake mix as one of the ingredients. Using the new boxes in an old recipe will not work. Therefore, no need to increase wet ingredients.

Laura

 

[Alesia]

If it really distresses you that much, why not just make them from scratch? It isn't any harder and only takes maybe 5 minutes more than using a boxed mix.

 

[DizMe]

Ugh. It's very aggravating, as a PP mentioned, when it messes up recipes etc that call for a specific amount.

I was at the store recently and my dd wanted to get some Dryer's Peppermint ice cream, which is a seasonal favorite of ours. She took it out of the freezer compartment and I said, "Wow! That looks small!" When we checked the size, they are now down to 1.5 qts from 1.75, which was down from 1/2 gallon. And the price! $4.99. We put it back.

 

[dpswift]

I went to make gumbo today and found that the smoked sausage had been downsized to 12oz from 16.

 

[okeydokey]

Cakes and cupcakes made from scratch are really no more work than the box ones anyway and the quality is so much better. Then you can make as much batter as you want.

 

[Poohbug]

I think I will be making my cakes from scratch more often. It is bad enough when a mix does not make the amount of cupcakes that it used to but it is even worse when your layer cakes come out too thin. Messes up your whole cake when one box does not make one nice, flat layer without cutting it really thin.

 

[maleficent32]

I went to make gumbo today and found that the smoked sausage had been downsized to 12oz from 16.

I just noticed that one the other day too. 12 oz isn't enough for us, so now I have to buy 2 of them and use half of the 2nd.
I'd rather they just kept the size the same and raised the price a little to compensate. I understand that their costs are going up, and they do pass that on to the consumer but making the size smaller just seems like they are trying to pull one over on us all.

 

[ilovemk76]

The only way to get the same thing time after time is to make it from scratch.

It is really not that difficult.

 

[North of Mouse]

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.

Whatever gives you that 'feel good' feeling, I guess!! If you don't check or even care, that's the type of consumer these companies like!! They can cut down sizes without you being aware.

But, I can assure you the mixes 'don't' give you the same in the finished baked product. As mentioned above, those of us that have the pans we've always used do not get the same size cupcakes/cakes, no matter if we still can make the same 'amount'!! And I, for one, take the time to notice and care!

 

[HockeyMomNH]

The thing that I have noticed a huge change in is paper products. Toilet paper rolls have gotten much shorter, like they hacked 1/2 inch off the top. They slide back and forth on the holder now.

Also, paper towel rolls. It's as though they wind them looser so that they are the same bulk, but less paper.

 

[pk1959]

It seems to me that they have both downsized many products AND raised the prices which makes it a double whammy for the consumer.

 

[maleficent32]

The thing that I have noticed a huge change in is paper products. Toilet paper rolls have gotten much shorter, like they hacked 1/2 inch off the top. They slide back and forth on the holder now.

Also, paper towel rolls. It's as though they wind them looser so that they are the same bulk, but less paper.

I can understand this one, in today's world where we are trying to be more green, this makes sense to me.

 

[LilyWDW]

Cakes and cupcakes made from scratch are really no more work than the box ones anyway and the quality is so much better. Then you can make as much batter as you want.

Is it bad that I am actually afraid to do them from scratch? I mean, I can cook with the best of them but I am actually scared of baking! It has to be so much more exact and I would hate to mess it up and waste all of those ingredients. I think I just have to get over it. I would love to be able to bake my own cakes, cupcakes, breads, muffins, and then like from scratch.

 

[Alesia]

Is it bad that I am actually afraid to do them from scratch? I mean, I can cook with the best of them but I am actually scared of baking! It has to be so much more exact and I would hate to mess it up and waste all of those ingredients. I think I just have to get over it. I would love to be able to bake my own cakes, cupcakes, breads, muffins, and then like from scratch.

There's nothing to be afraid of. It's not even remotely difficult. If you can read, you can bake.

 

[fbb]

Is it bad that I am actually afraid to do them from scratch? I mean, I can cook with the best of them but I am actually scared of baking! It has to be so much more exact and I would hate to mess it up and waste all of those ingredients. I think I just have to get over it. I would love to be able to bake my own cakes, cupcakes, breads, muffins, and then like from scratch.

Even the things my wife thinks she messes up are ravenously consumed. I'm not particular.

 

[zoemurr]

Is it bad that I am actually afraid to do them from scratch? I mean, I can cook with the best of them but I am actually scared of baking! It has to be so much more exact and I would hate to mess it up and waste all of those ingredients. I think I just have to get over it. I would love to be able to bake my own cakes, cupcakes, breads, muffins, and then like from scratch.

Try it, you'll never go back.

Start with a simple frosting recipe. My daughter has been making this from scratch. Wow.. so much better than the oiled filled junk out of a can. Only a few ingredients too.

Think of it this way: the boxes are really just flour, sugar and baking soda/powder, combined with a bunch of chemicals and fillers you don't need. You can measure and mix those three things right?

 

[aprilchem]

Yes, make your own from scratch! Baked goods that don't come out of a box are better and better for you, because they don't contain all those artificial ingredients.

 

[AquaDame]

+1 to making your own from scratch. I had to stop buying cake mix when I realized what was in them (or its just gotten worse over the years, I am not sure, but I definitely said enough is enough one day and never looked back). I actively check recipes for not only "1 can of..", but "1 15.5oz can of..." ingredient lists so that I will always be able to weigh things out if worse comes to worse. Nothing more sad than a beloved recipe suddenly not working and you don't know why!