Make the roux

• Melt the butter in a large pan over low to medium-low heat.
• Once fully melted, add the flour and whisk together until it starts to bubble slightly.
• Whisk every few seconds for about 1 minute.

Add the cream and milk

• Pour in the heavy cream and whisk; small clumps are fine.
• Add the whole milk and whisk again.
• Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring every 30 seconds or so to keep the bottom from burning.

Melt in the cream cheese

• Once the mixture simmers slowly, add the cream cheese and stir until melted.

Add corn and seasonings

• Stir in the drained corn, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
• Mix well; the mixture will be quite thick at this point.

Simmer covered

• Cover and simmer over low heat, just above the lowest setting, stirring once or twice.
• If it is too thick, stir in a splash of milk; if too thin, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.