Lime and Ginger Cream Cheese Bars

To make crust: Arrange a rack at center position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8X5 inch square pan. In a food processor, combine ground ginger snaps and sugar; process until well mixed, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter and pulse until just combined. Using your fingers press mixture firmly onto the bottom of prepared pan. Bake 8 minutes, then remove pan from oven to cool 15 minutes.

To Make Filling: In a mixer on medium spped, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in ¼ cup of sugar and conrstarch until just combined. Then beat in egg and 2 tablespoons of the sour cream. Add ginger, 1½ teaspoon lime zest and lime juice and beat until just combined. Pour mixture into the pan smooth the top with a spatula. The cream cheese layer will be only about ½ inch thick. Bake until a tester comes out nearly clean, about 25 minutes.

Remove pan from oven but maintain oven temperature. Whisk together the remaining 5 tablespoons sour cream, 2 tablespoons sugar and ¼ tsp lime zest in a small bowl, then spread mixture evenly over the top ove the cream chees layer, Return pan to the oven and bake 5 minutes. Remove and let cool in the pan. then refrigerate for at least 3 hours oir overnight.

To Serve: Cut into 12 equal-sized bars. Arrange bars on a serving plate. If desired, garnish eac bar with julienned lime peel and garnish platter with mint sprigs.