It didn't rise to the occasion

Preparing for tomorrow's visit of friends I made some bread and a banana cake - which failed to rise as I thought it would. There should be a nice domed top as shown in the recipe picture. It took far longer to cook than it said too, 30 minutes at 160c fan, in the end it took 50 minutes before the skewer came out clean.

By the end of the evening we decided we needed to taste it to ensure it was fit for purpose - a small slice was cut off the end and sampled and I'm pleased to report it tasted just fine and the texture was good. It just doesn't look good.

Most of the day prior to making the cake and bread was spent in front of the computer screen. I did go for a run before I was chained to the desk and we did go walking again in the evening. It remains cold and windy down in Kent but there is some bright sunshine. We noticed our potatoes are up on the allotment, with frost forecast for Thursday night I need to earth them up to protect them.