Dr Pepper Cupcakes for Dad's Birthday

My dad's birthday was May 26th, and I couldn't let a birthday pass without making some kind of cupcake, or cake. I had been dwelling on ideas for over a month, but had yet to settle on anything. For one, I knew the guestlist would likely only consist of myself, Dad, Dad's girlfriend, and my boyfriend. That pretty much put a halt on anything too elaborate. The themes I had considered were bowling, NASCAR, and Dr. Pepper. Finally I came up with a cool cake design involving the Dr. Pepper logo. Of course, this was before Memorial Day weekend came about with it's late night drinking and dancing to Van Halen. Needless to say, I spent all of Monday, May 25th, recovering. Tuesday I worked from 9 to 5, and then rushed to and through Walmart, gathing supplies for the enchilada/taco dinner I would be making for my Dad and us. I couldn't bare not having something cake related. I had read much praise regarding the moistness of cupcakes made with soda, so I grabbed a fudge chocolate cake mix, a 12 oz Dr Pepper, and a pint of Turtle Fudge (or something of the sort) Blue Bell ice cream. I still had to clean the apartment, and knew that cupcakes would be quick and easy. I substituted 1 1/3 cups of water with 2 cups of Dr Pepper. The amount of soda varies across the internet from 1 cup to 12 oz or more. I let 12 cupcakes bake for about 20 minutes (longer than usual). I discarded the remaining batter, because I didn't need 12 cupcakes, much less 24 or so. They turned out so perfectly moist. I would still like to try something more elaborate, but even with just a cake mix, these were very good. I couldn't actually taste any Dr. Pepper, but didn't expect to either. After our delicious dinner, I paired the cupcakes with a scoop of the ice cream, and drzzled some melted peanut butter on top. MMMmmm!! It wasn't exactly my best work, but it tasted great and was an overall success.