Tova Du Plessis and Abby Dahan: Award winning Bakers

Tova du Plessis was born and raised in a kosher Jewish household in Johannesburg South Africa, She came to the United States to attend college, planning to become a doctor.  She pivoted her professional plan and enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley. She completed externships with Pastry Chef Matt Tinder and Boris Portnoy at The Restaurant at Meadowood in Yountville. During a free period, she traveled to Philadelphia, connected with Michael Solomonov, who hired her as a line cook at Zahav and a sous chef at kosher European restaurant Citron & Rose. After a brief stint as the pastry chef at Avance, she joined The Rittenhouse Hotel as executive pastry chef, overseeing dessert and pastry at Lacroix. Tova opened essenbakery.com in 2016. The bakery focuses on Jewish breads and sweets, including babkas, challah, and rugelach.  She is a four time James Beard award nominee as a semi-finalist for “Outstanding Baker”.  Follow Tova on twitter @ChefTova and @essenbakery and Instagram @tovadup 

Abigail Dahan is a Foodnetwork 2020 Chopped Sweets winner. She likes teaching regular folks how to bake like pros. She was born in Paris to a Moroccan Jewish father and French Jewish mother.. Her family moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, when she was young.  She returned to Paris for culinary school and eventually returned to the Philadelphia area.  In 2014, she was selected for Zagat’s “30 under 30” list for Philadelphia. Dahan was furloughed as the executive pastry chef at Parc at the beginning of the pandemic and returned part-time early in the summer.  She won “Chopped Sweets” in early March and the episode aired 01 September 2020.  Abby prepared for the competition by watching as many episodes as possible and by memorizing certain recipes. After baking challahs out of her home, Abby started a business. She now teaches virtual baking classes. Follow Abby on Twitter @sugarchefabs Instagram @abbydahan and contact her for classes through her website www.thebakeschool.com