1. Melt butter in a 6-quart stock pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic; sauté 3 to 4 minutes or until just tender. Add red pepper flakes, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, black pepper, bay leaves and sugar; cook an additional 1 minute.
    
2. Add stock and sweet potatoes, increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook potatoes 15 to 18 minutes or until very tender. Turn off heat and remove bay leaves.
    
3. Pour batches of soup into a blender. Puree until smooth. Return pureed soup to the stock pot; stir in cream and thyme until cream is fully incorporated and warm. Taste soup and add additional salt and pepper as desired.

Yield: 11 cups soup

Chef’s Note: Using local products makes this soup extra delicious. The sweet potatoes are from Grown in Detroit, the cream is from Calder’s Dairy and the fresh thyme is from Mudgie’s own herb garden.