"cooking sponge cakes" is "faire des gâteaux" in French. Technically it would be "faire des génoises" (the variety of light cake that you cut and stuff, decorate and so on), but that would be understood by persons familiar with baking and cooking.
gateaux
That is the correct spelling of the plural "lamingtons" meaning the Australian dessert sponge cakes.
une génoise
des gâteaux français
Petits gâteaux simply means little cakes and will suffice as a description for cup cakes.
une éponge (fem.)
Unique homestyle cooking is "une cuisine familiale unique" in French.
The term from French is spelled cuisine (cooking, especially fine cooking).
The pan-cooking term from French is "saute" (the French word uses the accent, as sauté).
The likely word is gourmet (gor-may) which is from French and means a connoisseur, or someone knowledgeable about fine cooking.
The correct spelling is "sponge." A sponge is a porous, water-absorbing material often used for cleaning or applying makeup.
Sandy as in Sponge Bob? Is Arenita