Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or use paper liners (I recommend the liners).

Place the cream cheese block between two pieces of wax paper and roll to slightly flatten, so that it's around 4 inches by 6 inches. Freeze.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the sugar, pumpkin and vegetable oil. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, salt and baking soda. Add to the egg mixture all at once and stir just until blended – do not overmix.

Fill the muffin tins around 3/4 full (I like to use a large spring-loaded ice cream scoop).

Remove cream cheese from the freezer and cut into 24 1-inch squares. Push one square into the middle of each muffin. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of chopped pecans over the top of each.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin (not into the cream cheese) comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan; remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Note that the cream cheese will be very hot initially.