Touching story behind viral photo of 'ugly' Elsa cake

A photo of an "ugly" cake resembling Elsa from Disney's "Frozen" has spread quickly over the internet, but the baker says there were sweet intentions behind the decorative disaster.

The pretty terrible Elsa imitation was posted to Reddit on Tuesday with the caption: "The cake that was ordered and the cake that arrived."

The perfect princess cake on the left-hand side was made by a professional baker and blogger.

The so-called scary Elsa on the right was made by a volunteer for Icing Smiles - a charity that makes birthday cakes for very sick children.

"That cake was done for us roughly a year ago for a child in California. She had been perfectly happy with the cake until this happened," Icing Smiles founder and executive director Tracy Quisenberry told ABC News.

After the photo went viral, volunteer Lisa Randolph-Gant addressed the story, saying she had just lost her grandmother and had spent the day comforting her mother.

"Yes I know the cake looks a HOT MESS ... BUT here is the back story ... I had just lost my grandmother I had been with my Mom all day comforting her, I came back to work on the cake I HAD 2 hours to get it done and delivered," Gant posted on Facebook. "Yes I've seen all the really mean comments, some even posted by some of my so called cake friends that know it's my cake. At the end of the day, I DIDN'T let that sick baby down. I gave it all I had to give, so make fun of me all you ... want if that is what you need to do to feel good about yourself."

The woman who made the professional-looking cake says it's harder than it looks.

"It's a difficult thing to pull off especially if you've never done it before," McGreevy told ABC News. "Somebody tried and at the end of the day that's what I think it's all about: trying."