The history of chocolate cake goes back to the 17th century, when cocoa powder from the Americas was added to traditional cake recipes. In 1828, Coenraad van Houten of the Netherlands developed a mechanical method for extracting the fat from cacao liquor, resulting in cacao butter and the partly defatted cacao, a compacted mass of solids that could be sold as "rock cacao" or ground into powder. The processes transformed chocolate from an exclusive luxury to an inexpensive daily snack. A process for making silkier and smoother chocolate, called conching, was developed in Switzerland in 1879 by Rodolphe Lindt. This made it easier to bake with chocolate, as it amalgamates smoothly and completely with cake batters. Until the 1890s, chocolate recipes were mostly for chocolate drinks, and its presence in cakes was only in fillings and glazes.