my $to = $user->email;
$c->stash->{email_out} = {
    to          =>  $to,
    subject     =>  "XXX.com Membership Activation ($enc_string)",
    template    =>  'activation.tt',
};

$c->forward($c->view('Email::Template'));

if (not scalar @{$c->error}) {
    $c->log->debug("*** Email sent! $to ($enc_string) ***");
}

##</code><code>##

__PACKAGE__->config->{'View::Email::Template'} = {
    template_prefix =>  'emails',
    stash_key       =>  'email_out',
    default =>  {
        view            =>  'TT',
        content_type    =>  'text/plain',
        charset         =>  'utf-8',
    },
    sender  =>  {
        mailer      =>  'SMTP',
        mailer_args =>  {
            host            =>  'mail.<mydomain>.com',
            sasl_username   =>  '<email address here>',
            sasl_password   =>  '<email password here>',
            ssl             =>  1,
        }
    },
};

##</code><code>##

[debug] Path is "send_activation_email"
[debug] Arguments are "<username goes here>"
[debug] *** Manually sending activation email ***
[debug] *** Sending activation email ***
[debug] *** Found existing activation, 3 ***
[debug] C::V::Email::Template uses default view XXX::View::TT=HASH(0x10238e1c0) for rendering.
[debug] C::V::Email uses default content_type text/plain.
[debug] Rendering template "emails/activation.tt"
[debug] C::V::Email uses specified content_type text/plain.
[error] no sender