Out of curiosity then, what’s the term for a single piece of bread cut from a loaf?
Slice of bread. Plural - Slices.
A useful slice compendium
Just for completeness, none of this referred to if someone says “ice and a slice”. That’s a way of asking how you like your cocktails.
Depending on the exact recipe, those would be either squares, slices (esp. “custard slice”) or just “fridge tart” in South Africa.
I give you the glory that is Peppermint Crisp fridge tart. Do you get peppermint crisp outside the [del]Cadbury[del] Commonwealth zone?
There is still plenty of time to enter this year’s version of The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph in Mildura.
In the US (at least, my part of the US), such a thing would be called a “bar”, and if you said “square”, you’d probably also be understood. Unless the thing in question were chocolate: A chocolate bar or a chocolate square are both just a solid chunk of chocolate (a snack for the former, probably unsweetened baking chocolate for the latter). A chocolate dessert made like this would be “brownies”, regardless of the precise recipe.
Those look very good! I think I’ll make a batch, but let me check a few things about the ingredients for anyone who knows:
Packet of plain biscuits – plain biscuits? I’m guessing something like a shortbread cookie without nuts or frosting or anything added? Like, maybe Lorna Doones would do?
Desiccated coconut – we have flaked coconut. It’s grated, not powder dry but slightly moist, and powdered with something to keep it from clumping up. Same stuff?
150g dark chocolate, chopped – is dark chocolate semi-sweet, so I could use ordinary chocolate chips? Or is unsweetened, more like baking chocolate?
Aye, I thought of that as fairly standard, but I wondered if - where a generic slice is wedge shaped - maybe that meant my generic slice was known as something else.
If I saw a recipe that said “plain biscuit”, I’d assume it meant Marie biscuit or similar (see the reference to batik cake). Rich tea or digestives would also work.
Not quite - dessicated is dryer than flaked, and also much finer. In a recipe like this, the moistness is OK, but I’d give it a whirl in the processor to make it finer.
It’s sweetened, I’d use something like a Lindt 70%
I should also clarify that Americans would very seldom use the term “bars” or “squares” in isolation, without an adjective. You would instead have “caramel bars” or “lemon squares” or the like. “Brownies”, however, typically doesn’t need an adjective (unless you’re distinguishing between more than one kind, like “Mary brought the chocolate-chip brownies, but who brought the iced brownies?”).
Thank you, Mr. Dibble! Glad I asked. 
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Marie Biscuits in the foreign food aisle…
Slice or piece, but I don’t know that I would ever say it on its own. It would be a ‘slice of bread’ or a ‘piece of bread’.
Took me several reads to figure out that “hot sauce” did not mean “hot pepper sauce.” Although, now, I really think I have to try my interpretation of the recipe out.
Probably, but with some difficulty. I looked up picture of this peppermint crisp and I’ve never seen anything like that (and, honestly, it looks revolting). Not even at the Irish shop in Portsmouth that sells a fairly wide variety of Cadbury & other chocolate products that haven’t otherwise made it into most US stores - dairy milk, galaxy, flake, crunchie, wispa, aero etc. You can order it on Amazon, but wow, are they expensive.
Plain biscuits: you can use graham crackers, animal crackers, anything mildly sweet and not strongly flavoured.
Dessicated coconut: The Bob’s Red Mill brand “shredded” (not “flaked”) is closest to Aussie equivalent. I’ve also seen it at Whole Foods from various organic-y brands. You want to avoid the kinds which have sugar and/or glycol added.
Dark chocolate: Yes, use semi-sweet or a block of 70%. Choc chips usually have stuff added to keep their shape in cookies, which might give you strange results for this melted and reset preparation.
Really?!? Office morning tea is a thing in Australia and males bring something they’ve made themselves?? What a wonderful country 
The only things that my husband and son have brought to school or work for a shared snack (which I guess would be the closest equivalent, and it happens rarely) are store-bought cookies or donuts–or something that I’ve made for them to bring.
Wouldn’t “bars” as a term used in isolation in the US immediately bring to mind the commercial establishments where people go to drink?
And yes, to people in the NYC area, “slice” = a slice of pizza, usually wedge-shaped
Probably in most places, indeed. But when I worked in Newfoundland in the mid-90s it could definitely be used to mean chocolate bars (as in - I believe this is the correct expression - candy bars). We were discussing the term “junk food”, which I take to mean “fast food”, really, and was told “Here it’s…well…chips, bars, that kind of thing.” And when snacks circulated in the office, folks would ask “want a piece of bar?”
What, like just the word, ‘bars’? No, it would call to mind any of a variety of things that are described as ‘bars’ based on the listener’s history and life experience.
But no american is going to hear, “Hey, there are some bars in the breakroom if you’re interested?” and interpret it as several commercial establishments where people go to drink have been left in the office kitchen.
Okay, so when I looked that up, I was actually kind of disappointed that…
No, never mind.
Yeah, there’s a bit of that.