Even some of the best home bakers love boxed cake mixes. They are quick to put together and, with a couple of upgrades, can taste like they are homemade. Plus, boxed cake mix does a lot more than just bake cakes. It is a great starting point for other treats, as well.
But recently, there have been significant changes to your go-to brand’s cake mixes. With that in mind, here is all you need to know about what these changes mean for the boxes in your pantry.
Several Popular Brands Have Reduced the Size of Their Boxed Cake Mix
It appears as though shrinkflation is coming for boxed cake mixes. You may have seen the change in size for yourself or noticed the packages feel a little lighter when you take them off the shelf. Regardless, you aren’t wrong: your boxes of cake mix are getting smaller.
Some manufacturers—including Pillsbury, Duncan Hines, and Betty Crocker—have reduced the amount of cake mix per box by a couple of ounces to account for an increase in the price of ingredients.
So, what does this mean for your baking? Well, the change is only by a couple of ounces, so there is no cause for alarm … Yet. Most standard cake boxes used to be around 18 ounces, and now, they range anywhere from 13 to 16 ounces. To put this into perspective, three ounces of cake mix is around six tablespoons of cake mix.
This means your cake mix might make a slightly smaller cake or one or two fewer cupcakes. This might sound inconsequential, but many cake mix fans have noticed the change. While no one is excited about less cake, other home cooks are even more concerned about what this means for recipes that depend on an entire 18-ounce box of cake mix.
How To Adjust Cake Mix Recipes for Smaller Boxes
According to the Allrecipes Test Kitchen, the change in cake box mix size should not be big enough of a difference to affect most recipes. That’s a relief! But if you see a change in your dump cakes, cookies, or fruit bars, there are a few routes you can take.
Adjust the Rest of the Recipe
One option is to adjust the rest of the recipe around the new box size. Primarily, we’re seeing cake mixes sold in 15.25-ounce or 13.5-ounce boxes. That’s about a 16.5 percent or 27 percent decrease from the traditional 18.5-ounce boxes. You can decrease each ingredient accordingly to make the recipe proportional again. Here’s a quick chart for easy conversions, rounded to the nearest standard measurement.
| 15.5-ounce Box Common Conversions | |
|---|---|
| Original Recipe | Adjusted Size |
| 1 cup | 3/4 cup and 1.5 tablespoons |
| 1/2 cup | 1/4 cup and 2.5 tablespoons |
| 1/3 cup | 4.5 tablespoons |
| 1/4 cup | 3.5 tablespoons |
| 13.5-ounce Box Common Conversions | |
|---|---|
| Original Recipe | Adjusted Size |
| 1 cup | 1/2 cup and 3.5 tablespoons |
| 1/2 cup | 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons |
| 1/3 cup | 4 tablespoons |
| 1/4 cup | 3 tablespoons |
Add in the Difference
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
You could buy your cake mix in bulk and measure out the ounces yourself, always keeping an extra box of cake mix to grab out of, white or vanilla mix would go with just about any other flavor. Alternatively, Anne Byrn of The Cake Mix Doctor cookbooks suggests replacing the missing amount with normal all-purpose flour.
Make Your Own
AllRecipes / Julia Hartbeck
Finally, you can always make your own DIY cake mix to keep on hand for dump cakes and quick desserts. But, if you’re making cake or cupcakes, it may just be easier to go the old-fashioned route and make it completely from scratch. It might take a little bit of extra time, but it could be fun to switch it up. And it could even taste a little bit better.
While we can’t promise the packages won’t keep getting smaller, we should be all set to proceed with all things box-mixed-based this holiday season. After all, the smaller boxed cake mix sizes could just be an excuse to increase the amount of frosting you use. No one can complain about a smaller cake if it is under a mountain of icing!