These are a few of my favorite things

Ok, so it isn't cake, but I was experimenting with soup recipes today (along with needed to clear some things out of the freezer). Here's what I came up with, and I thought it was FABU-TASTIC. A bit sweet, very fresh and light tasting... I could eat this every day (and given the amount of leftovers I have, I will be for quite some time).

Ham and Corn Chowder
Leftover ham bone with some meat still (or you can use a chunk of fresh ham). Would not recommend using smoked ham. I used one I'd frozen from Easter dinner last month.
3 cups fresh, frozen corn (or you can use a combination of both). I recommend at least 3 corn ears + frozen to supplement.
5 slices bacon, diced into 1/2" pieces
2 c whole milk
2 carrots, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 good size russet potato, peeled and diced to 1/2" cubes
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic.
1 T flour
1/2 t dried basil
1 t dried thyme
salt & pepper

In a large stock pot, put in the ham bone and add water until it's almost covered. For any parts of the ham bone that are not covered, remove the meat and add it to the water in the stock pot. Clean the corn and cut the kernels off the cobs. Add the cobs and bay leaves to the stock pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.

Once the ham has simmered, turn off the heat and move the ham bone plus any additional ham pieces to a cutting board to cool. Add the bacon to a cold soup pot, and then place it over medium heat. Cook bacon until most of the fat has rendered off and the pieces are just crisp. Remove the bacon from the pot, set aside. Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pot (if needed), and add the diced carrots and onion. Sweat the vegetables on medium-low heat until the onions are translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add the thyme, basil, garlic and freshly ground pepper, and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and then stir in so that it dissolves. Add the potatoes. Add 6 C of the ham broth to the pot. Bring the heat to medium-high until the soup comes to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low and continue to simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are very tender.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is creamy (don't puree everything - leave some potatoes and carrots unblended). Add the milk, corn and ham to the soup, and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Salt & pepper to taste.