I made figgy pudding for Christmas about ten years ago, following a recipe in Verity Isitt's "Take a Buttock of Beefe" (not a book I would recommend, as she purports to offer original 17th century recipes paired with their modern equivalents but is ridiculously loose in her idea of an equivalent). It didn't include breadcrumbs in the mix, but it was covered with a simple pastry crust. It was pretty dreadful... LTS is quite right about the "sharpness" of it. Of course, I'm not a very good cook, and I may have gone a bit heavy on the brandy. Come to think of it, I may have decided it would be a good way to use up some grappa I'd been given.... Oh, keep me out of the kitchen!!! Margaret