The Thing: Competition Standard Sponge Cake.

You’re at an event. A ‘bring a plate’ event. Saturday afternoon tennis. A baby shower, a kitchen tea, a 75^th Wedding anniversary. You can picture it now: plates of sandwiches, hedgehog, lemon slice, jelly slice, the box of Shapes that no one admits to bringing but everyone wants to devour…

And then, a sponge.  Dusted with icing sugar, sitting politely atop a Royal Albert cake plate. A paragon of virtue amongst mere mortal contributions.

It goes largely unspoken, but it’s widely accepted that the maker of the sponge is automatically elevated to demi-god. For those who come to an afternoon tea armed with a packet of family assorteds, the sponge maker appears to possess an enigmatic set of baking skills that mean they are capable of pretty much anything. And they are probably the type of people who clean up their cooking space as they work. Sponge Maker = Brilliant Homecrafting Superhero.

Leanne: I did make a sponge once. I have no memory of the process or the outcome, or even when this mystical event happened. I much prefer to partake in the eating of sponges that mum makes. She's a well established cook who can look after six grand children, whip up a batch of biscuits, magic up a meat pie and throw together a nutritious lamb salad for tea in the time it takes me to hang out a load of washing. 

Jess: Sponges scare me. There, I said it. They're amazing when they're good and, well, disappointing when they're average. And apparently easy to make if you ask a seasoned sponge maker. I'm not known for my baking; it can be best described as enthusiastic...

So here is the plan: we will bake a sponge with nothing but a randomly selected recipe and a strong sense of trepidation. We will then seek out an expert or two for some special coaching (think agricultural show prize-winners), and finally we'll bake a sponge to enter in the Bendigo Agricultural Show 2016 Senior Homecraft Cooking section. That's right: we will throw down our very best efforts against the most revered in the business.