I've been making this soup regularly - but with no cream or orange, and adding apple cider. and with various winter squashes. A vegetable bouillon (from kitchen scraps) works fine

I even did a community meal of this some years ago, using a giant (30+lb squash I for at an end-of-season sale at a farm stand)

Like you, I make a mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot, butter).

I will often add cumin, and sometimes a bit of cinnamon or ginger) cooking it in the butter before adding the rest of the mirepoix ingredients and usually use a food processor rather than an immersion blender (IMO more velvety texture).

I'd disagree that you need to peel the celery - you just need to mince it properly (cut into long thin strips before cutting crosswise). Throwaway parts of the celery (leaves and lower base) work fine. I haven't tried celeriac (celery root) but plan to. If you don't have celery, then ground celery seed or celery seed gives a similar flavor kick.

Thanks for posting this - I'll try orange zest the next time 'round.