Regarding new size of Duncan Hines cake mix

I add 1/3 cup of mix to the box I'm using. That makes up the diff.

I use several of the Cake Mix Doctor basic recipes as my "go-to recipes".
Here's my email and the response from Anne Byrn, author of "The Cake Mix Doctor".

"Good morning, Ms. Byrn.
As you probably know, Betty Crocker reduced their mix sizes recently. Even though Duncan Hines said they would NOT follow suit, they have.

A member of the Wilton.com forum received confirmation this morning:
"Ok ladies I just got off the phone with a rep from DH and he said yes, they have reduced their Classic line from 18.25 to 16.5 in an effort to remain "cost competetive". He said only the Classic line but those are the ones I use. He had a long story to tell about the reason they are doing this: to keep from raising their prices. I understand that but I would rather pay a little extra than have the sizes cut!"

What impact will these changes have on the recipes printed in your books? Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you."
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"Thanks for your email. It is really distressing that food companies think they can keep reducing the size of products. For the past few years the mixes have lacked the structure, and I have advised cooks to add a little flour to the dry cake mix to ensure the cake will have structure and not sink while cooling.
I, too, would rather pay a little more and keep things consistent.
Let's let the dust settle, and I will be interested to try my recipes with the smaller DH mixes.
In the meantime, it's a good idea to add a little flour (up to 1/2 cup), a little sugar, if desired, and a half teaspoon of baking powder to the smaller cake mix before adding other ingredients.
Or, check out my cake mixes on my website - www.cakemixdoctor.com - clicking on Anne's cake mix. They are a little larger than the conventional cake mix.

Thanks for your interest, and let's keep in touch!"
Anne

The Chocolate Midnight cake from the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor is my standard chocolate cake.  I use DH devil's food instead of dark chocolate fudge cake mix.  I noticed that all of a sudden my cakes weren't coming out right.  When I would take the cake out of the oven, it would shrink inwards and end up maybe 1" thick.  I believe it's because I was still using 1 cup of mayo and 1 cup of water, not realizing the cake mix had been reduced in volume.  I am very upset by this!!!!  This used to be the perfect size for a 1/4 sheet cake or 2 dozen cupcakes.  Now it's not enough.  I guess I will do what others are doing and add from another box to make up the volume difference.  You're killing me, Duncan Hines!!!!!  (Oh, and for the record, the dark chocolate fudge cake mix has also been reduced to 16.5 oz.)

I just purchased dh cake mix and they had 2 different boxes. One was called classic and had the smaller amount and the other was I think called decadent , I threw the box out before I saw this, but anyway , that one had the 18.25 amount in it. I'm wondering if they are now keeping the larger one and renaming it to charge more.

I still use the same WASC recipe and havent noticed a difference when using the 16.5oz box.

I have not had any problems with the smaller package size and the WASC recipe....UNTIL TODAY!!  I am soooo mad.  I thought I messed up the first batch of cupcakes, so I made a second batch.  Guess what???  It's the mix!  The cupcakes turned out very dense and had a horrible spong-like consistancy.  I have been a professional baker for over 3 years using DH's in my WASC recipe, and I have never had a problem before.  The cake mixes were bought within the past 4-6 weeks, and I will be throwing them all way.  I will NEVER buy DH's brand cake mix again.  I have many scratch reicpes, but my customers LOVED the WASC cake recipe.  I guess I'm going back to scratch.