Decorate your own Gingerbread House before Christmas. Gingerbread is a sweet dessert that can take the form of a cake or a cookie in which the predominant flavors are ginger and molasses or sugar. Gingerbread is often used to build gingerbread houses similar to the ‘witch’s house’ encountered by Hansel and Gretel. These houses, covered with a variety of candies and icing, are popular Christmas decorations, often built by children with the help of their guardians.