Baked almond-stuffed peaches recipe

Were these almond-stuffed peaches enough for Bex to bag the prize on Come Dine With Me North Essex?

Serves 4

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4). Cut the peaches in half and remove the stones. Arrange 4 of the halves, cut side up, in a shallow baking dish. Set aside. Finely dice the remaining 2 peach halves.
Combine the diced peach with the dried apricots, almond extract, brandy and egg white. Stir to mix thoroughly.
Heat a small, heavy ungreased frying pan and lightly toast the almonds, turning and tossing every so often, until they are lightly browned in spots. Remove and chop, in a food processor or by hand, to make a mixture of small chunks of nuts and ground nuts.
Add the chopped almonds to the fruit mixture and mix well. Use the mixture to fill the hollows in the peach halves, heaping up the filling and pressing it gently together. Cover the baking dish with a tent of cooking foil.
Bake for 25–30 minutes, then remove the foil. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6) and bake for a further 5–10 minutes or until the nutty topping is lightly browned. The peaches are best when warm, but they can be chilled before serving.