We have a Aldi's in our town I use almost all of their products they are great...They are a very cheap store. They are also unique.You have to rent a cart for a quaeter and when you are done you return to the store and get your quarter back. you also have to pay cashj or debit only. They have great products and great prices if you have never been there I suggest you try it out

My husband and I were talking about all the people complaining and what not and he commented about maybe the recipe that they use now having to do with the transfat? Never really thought about it, but that could be something. If anyone has a really old box and a new one maybe you can compare and see.

I am soooo happy to have found this thread!!! I have never had anyone complain about the way a cake tasted until last month. The only thing I could figure out was that I must have messed up the instructions. I thought I must have put to much oil in or something. I always use Pilsbury mixes, but this was the end of a long stretch of cakes so I was down to the end of my mixes. I had one DH mix and borrowed another from a neighbor to avoid going to the grocery store that day. That was the only thing out of the ordinary. I have made DH cakes before too and no one had ever complained about them either.

Okay, Everyone, I sent an e-mail to the parent company for Duncan Hines, outlining the problems I have personally been having with their mixes. Here is the response I received via e-mail:

We appreciate the time you've taken to share your thoughts and concerns
about Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Classic Yellow Cake Mix with us. We
have forwarded your comments to our Marketing and Product Development
groups for review and consideration as they continue to improve existing
products and develop new items. We are working hard to provide you with
the kinds of products you want, and it is important for us to know when we
do not meet your expectations.

We are sending you a coupon via Postal mail, which you can expect to
receive within ten to fourteen business days.

Sincerely,


Teresa Madden
Consumer Services Representative


I will keep you all posted on any further info .......

Odessa

I found this thread very interesting! All the complaints about shrinking and sinking - I found this to be my problem with BC, and I had to switch to DH! I just made a lemon pound cake using the recipe from their box about 2 weeks ago, and it turned out great. I wonder if the mixes are any different in Canada?

This is just on problem I don't need. UGH.

I to have used only DH for about 20 yrs and my customers raved about how good and moist my cakes were. In the past few months I have had some of all the problems mentioned here! I checked everything I could think of and it didnt seem to matter whether it was a sheet cake round 3inch, etc. The funny thing is that it doesn't happen everytime. Sometime the sheet cake doesn't rise and it sinks in the middle, the next one may turn out perfect. It is frustating when you are trying to make a deadline and this happens. Around the holidays I have bought as many as 20 cases and had no problems. Also, I do not use water, I use only milk and I always us butter in place of oil. I agree maybe if we all stop buying their product they will realize they better do something.

I have noticed that I have needed to start sifting my DH cake mixes, because they are almost always clumpy when I dump them into the bowl. I wonder if the reason I haven't had any problems is that I started sifting?

Anyone who sifts having problems with DH?

RP

I just baked 2 14-inch layers today using DH German Chocolate mixes and my standard doctored recipe. They rose just fine, but they shrank a whole lot--much more than in the past. I just happened to see this thread afterwards! I just hope I don't have any problems when I go to ice and decorate them.
*sigh*

Do you all tend to see them shrink then crack???

According to information we received in another forum I belong to, Proctor and Gamble sold the DH brand to Pinnacle Foods, which has reformulated the product. They say that consumer research says they like the new formula better, but I disagree. We all told them how we felt about the new formula, and we all received a form letter stating that tests prove the new formula is better. I switched to Betty Crocker, with the exception of certain flavors I cannot obtain through BC.

Theresa

I don't remember mine cracking, but there were a lot of air holes in the cake. It looked like a big sponge. The customer complained that it was dense. (Whatever that means.)

Thanks for that reply. I was wondering what on earth she could have meant. I am definitely writing Pinnacle Foods a letter they cost me $25!

This is a very interesting thread. I, too, have noticed some of these problems.

Has anyone contacted Wilton to see why their endorsement seal has been removed?

Just curious...

I to would like to know why Wilton took their name off of the package

So I bought 10 boxes of DH Butter Recipe Yellow last night. (.88 a box!) I only bought them because of the low price. I usually use BC and I was leary of DH after seeing this thread.

But my reason for buying them......The Wilton seal was on the box. I have not baked with them yet. I have a cake to do tonight. I will let you know how it turns out. But I thought I would share that with you guys. Maybe the parent company has decided to go back to the original recipe? And they aren't old mixes either. Pull date is Jan of 07.

The ones here in Indiana at Kroger still have the Wilton seal on them too. If you mix the DH mixes with the pound cake like someone else said, does it still taste like the DH cakes, or is there a major difference? I remember it being said that doing this eliminates the holes and cracks and stuff too.

The ones from Walmart in California have never lost the Wilton seal, either. However, they no longer have the tiered and large cake instructions inside.

So here is my report on the DH mixes I got last night. The first cake baked up well. I will tort it tomorrow, so I don't know how the middle looks yet.

I have to say that BC is easier to work with as far as mixing goes. DH is FULL of lumps. I tried siffting. It jammed my sifter up and had to take it apart. TWICE!

I noticed that DH requires far less water (milk) than BC does. Maybe that is why it clumps up so bad. Because there is extra moisture in the mix already? Just guessing.

Anyway, that is my two cents for now. If the middle of my cake looks like poo tomorrow though I think I might loose my marbles. I still have 6 more layers to bake for this wedding cake and don't enjoy the possibility of starting over.

I use DH mixes all the time, but I don't make them according to thier directions on their boxes and I receive many wonderful compliments for the taste of my cakes. However, when I make the DH Butter Recipe, I have nothing but problems to the point that I won't use it anymore. They would either not rise or would rise and sink in the center. I have wasted so many mixes because I've had to do them over and over again. I won't buy anymore of them and I've removed them from my list of cakes I offer.

I'm not even sure since I don't use Pillsbury, but do they have a Butter Recipe, or does anyone know of a better than DH Butter Recipe?

BC has both Chocolate and Yellow Butter. That is what I normally use, but at .88 a box I couldn't pass up the DH. Mine look beautiful on the outside so far. No sinking or cracking and they rose up beautifully.

I used an extra egg, a box of pudding and buttermilk. Plus a bottle of red food color (Red Velvet Cake) for each mix. Although I doubt the food color had much impact on their sucssess or failure.

This is weird! I have one box of DH spice in my pantry. It has an expiration date of Oct '07 and still has the Wilton seal on it!! I wonder when the change occurred.

Just bought several boxes and they all still have the wilton seal,
but to my sorrow I am getting cakes that look like a sponge inside even though I sifted to remove the lumps.
But they did not sink.
so frustrating.

Just bought several boxes and they all still have the wilton seal,
but to my sorrow I am getting cakes that look like a sponge inside even though I sifted to remove the lumps.
But they did not sink.
so frustrating.

I just started cake decorating in September. However, before I started, I used to always buy Duncan Hines because it just seems like there is more volume and the cakes seem to be more moist. My mom will buy whatever, and since I've been taking Wilton courses since last month, I;ve been going through a lot of white cake mix. The other day she was like I bought you some cake mix and when I went to her car to get it, it was Pillsbury, which would probably be my second choice. I don't really have much experience with Pillsbury other than their strawberry, but I'm thinking about making a practice cake just to see if I like Pillsbury. Anyway, I'm digressing.

The other day, I had to make the first cake for my course three class. The square cake sank (LIKE I heard it deflate) as soon as I turned it onto the cooling rack. I think a big part of it was my fault because it was too much mix for one pan. I always add a box of pudding to my cakes and it ended up rising above the pan. I only bought one pan. Then, I made a 9 inch round devils food cake the next day and it cracked. I havent gotten cracks in a long time, but I've always known that chocolate is a a difficult cake to bake. Decorating the cake was another story - I was sooo sad.

Now I dont know what to do. I've got a cabinet full of DH cake mix and I've got to use it, I'm broke. Plus, I shop at Wal-Mart since it's the cheapest as far as any cake mix goes where I live ($.82). Betty Crocker is the most expensive. Should I switch to Pillsbury for the interim or did I do something wrong with my other cakes? These were my first bad experiences with DH, and I want to stay with the brand.