In CakePHP sometimes you need to use a helper, such as the HtmlHelper in a controller. For example I needed to build links in a HTML email within a controller only (no view) action
class SomeController extends AppController { function index() { $view = new View($this); $Html = $view->loadHelper('Html'); debug($html->link('I Am Kieran', 'http://bloke.org')); } }