I was following the documentation at

http://book.cakephp.org/view/269/Sending-a-basic-message

about sending an email with CakePHP using the Email component, used the sample code they provided but could not get my application to send email. A little bit of googling helped me figure out what was going on. I have CakePHP setup within my XAMPP htdocs directory and my MercuryMail server was not started. You need to have a mail server setup to be able to send email and there are a few more steps you need to do as well to get up and running. It’s beautifully summarized here:

http://www.zoe.vc/2008/mercury-mail-transport-system-fur-externe-mail-konfigurieren/

Once your Mercury is properly setup, you are good to send emails from CakePHP!!!

Lesson learned i guess!

Hope It Helps!