Red Velvet Loaf Cake with Blueberries

I love blueberries and I adore red velvet cake so it wasn't a stretch of the imagination

to combine the two into this stunner of a cake. The plump juiciness of the berries with their velveteen inkiness is so beautiful against the rich scarlet hue of the sponge. 
And then there's the cream cheese frosting... swoon! 

Photographs by Angie Lazaro

Red Velvet Loaf Cake with Blueberries
Serves 6-8

120g butter, softened

300g castor sugar

2 eggs

15g cocoa powder

2 tbsp red food colouring

1t vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

300g cake flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp white wine vinegar

400g icing sugar

100g butter, softened

250g cream cheese

2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup water

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 cup castor sugar

Preheat oven to 170C. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
Beat on high while adding the eggs one at a time. In a seperate bowl, mix the cocoa powder, colouring and vanilla to make a thick paste. 
Add to the butter mixture and mix very well. Beat slowly while adding half the buttermilk and half the flour. Mix well before adding the remaining buttermilk and flour. 
Beat on high until smooth. Add salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar and mix well. 
Spoon into a lined 30 x 25cm rectangular baking tray and bake for 30 minutes until springy to the touch. Allow to cool on a wire rack. For the icing, cream the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. 
Place in a piping bag. Cut the cake to form three 10 x 25cm rectangles and pipe the icing in-between each layer. Simmer the blueberries, water, zest, lemon juice and castor sugar until reduced and glossy. Allow to cool. Top the cake with the blueberry compote.

Below is a step-by-step video: