Roughly chop the tomatoes, onion, and carrot, and crush the garlic so everything is ready before the pan goes on heat.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add the cumin seeds until they sizzle, then add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion turns soft and translucent.

Add the chopped tomatoes, carrot, and sugar to the pan, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften and release their juices.

Pour in the vegetable stock, drop in the bay leaf, and simmer uncovered until the carrot is completely tender and falls apart easily when pressed.

Turn off the heat, fish out the bay leaf, and let the soup base cool for a few minutes so it is safe to blend.

Transfer the soup base to a blender and blend until completely smooth with no visible tomato skin or carrot chunks.

Pour the blended soup back into the pan, stir in the fresh cream, black pepper, and salt, and mix until fully combined.

Warm the soup back through over low heat, stirring occasionally, without letting it come to a hard boil so the cream does not split.

Turn off the heat, ladle the soup into bowls, and garnish with torn basil leaves and an extra knob of butter.